Dispatches International
jor reasons behind the failure of the giving proper justice to acid victims.” Azad can recall dozens of
cases where acid attacks were performed to intimidate women. “Once there was a mother in her thirties who went to the court seeking justice for her mentally challenged daughter, who was raped by a group of men. Those who were allegedly responsible for the crime asked her to with- draw the case,” he explains. “She refused to withdraw the case. They threw acid on her. I can’t understand where this society is heading to” Another factor resulting in
the ineffectiveness of the legisla- tion is the lack of ability on the part of policymakers and law en- forcers to monitor the acid trade. For example, in Dhaka, one can purchase a half liter of sulfuric acid for just 30 taka ($0.44 USD). The goldsmiths in Dhaka use ni- tric acid to melt gold, and since they need only a small quantity for their work, they never bother to obtain a license. Thus, many jewelers collect, use, and sell acid, making effective monitoring of this deadly weapon entirely im- possible. “The government has to be
strict. The law has to be enforced properly. Carrying and selling acid without licenses should be totally banned,” says Azad. But Mohammad Zillar Rahman, the Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka, says that Azad’s advice is easier
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said than done. “It is true that we should have a distinct monitoring team to control acid use and sale. But the problem is that we don’t have one,” he explains. “Mobile courts occasionally visit specific shops and areas that are recog- nized as places of acid trading, to either renew shop license or to arrest the shop owners that don’t have licenses.” When I ask Rahman when
the last time an “acid raid” on an illegal acid market was conducted, he says he does not know. “But the police do help with these acid raids.”
Intrigued by the claims of
Azad and unsatisfied with the explanations of Rahman, I ap- proached the police officer in charge of the Gulshan Police Sta- tion in Dhaka. Md. Kamal Uddin claims that regulating the acid trade is up to the Department of Narcotics of the Ministry of Home Affairs, under which the Acid Control Act was established. “The drug control department is not investigating these issues proper- ly,” states Uddin with confidence. “There is something lacking in their investigating process.” Uddin insists the best way
to combat acid attacks is not to form committees, ratify legisla- tion, or conduct acid raids. He says that significance of educa- tion is undeniable in combating acid violence. “For any crime, not only acid violence, the first neces- sary thing is to educate the peo- ple. Our educational institutes
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