Enhancing the sentence of an accused who threw acid on the face of a woman after she turned down his proposal of marriage, the Bombay High Court recently said he deserved no leniency considering the nature of his crime. His sentence has been increased to life imprisonment.
The HC observed that his seven-year sentence awarded by the trial court for his “inhuman and cruel act” was “too meagre and definitely a miscarriage of justice” while enhancing his sentence and upholding his conviction under the charge of attempt to murder.
Eleven years ago, acid was thrown on the face of a young BPO worker from Pune by a company cab driver because she refused his marriage proposal.
Justice V K Tahilramani and Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi observed that while sentencing an accused, courts must consider its “effect on the social order.” The court further said that one of the objects of imposing punishment is to create a deterrent so that others do not dare to indulge in such acts or offences. “The punishment imposed by the trial court does not achieve that deterrent object,” said the court.
On January 31, 2005, the woman was attacked by the cab driver while he was driving her to her office. He told her he wished to marry her and that he would meet her parents. She lost her cool and shouted at him ,when suddenly he pulled out a bottle of acid from under the driver’s seat and flung it at her face right at the company entrance gate. While he was convicted by a trial court in 2011, he was let out on furlough for 14 days and escaped at the time and has never since been caught by police. The High Court has directed the police to relaunch its search and ensure he is traced and taken into custody at the earliest.