Acid Attack Convict Set Free After He Marries Victim, Will Give Skin For Plastic Surgery

The Bombay high court recently set free a man sentenced to life imprisonment in an eight-year-old acid attack case in a college romance gone awry after the convict said he had married the victim and intended to donate his skin for her plastic surgery.

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The convict, Anil Patil, said the two had settled the matter ¡°amicably¡± and wanted to lead a ¡°peaceful life¡±. Patil said he would pay for her plastic surgery too. In December 2013, a sessions court in Khed had convicted Patil for flinging acid on the woman¡ªan offence under Section 326 of Indian Penal Code ¡ªand sentenced him to a life in prison. He was also directed to pay a fine of Rs 25,000. Patil moved high court to challenge, what he called, ¡°a totally disproportionate punishment¡± in the case. He did not challenge the conviction though.

Abench of Justices Bhushan Gavai and Sarang Kotwal came to the convict¡¯s aid on June 27, and said that a sentence of eight years he had undergone was ¡°more than sufficient¡± considering the facts of the case. ¡°The incident appears to be an outcome of a love affair between the accused and the victimof the crime,¡± said the court.

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Both knew each other for long and when Patil proposed, she rejected. It appears that angered, he began to threaten her and one April day in 2010, when she, still a college student, was proceeding for a lecture with two of her friends, Patil showed up, pulled out a bottle and flung acid on her face and shoulder. Her friends who witnessed the scene in horror, testified later. Their corroboration led to aconviction.

The high court, too, found nothing wrong with the verdict of guilt. The judge in Khed, a small town in Ratnagiri, gave him the maximum sentence permissible in law for acid attack. The high court asked the police to confirm whether the attacker and victim were married to each other, for a year now, They indeed were, the prosecutor said after checking.

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¡°Not only that. After marriage, the victim is required to take treatment from a plastic surgeon, for which the appellant has undertaken to donate his skin,¡± said the high court. ¡°We find that the appellant and the victim have decided to lead a peaceful life¡­It is just and necessary that the appellant and the victim be permitted to lead a peaceful life,¡± said the high court, partly allowing Patil¡¯s appeal. The high court maintained the order of conviction but reduced the sentence to term already undergone.