Delhi Court Convicts Woman For Attempting To Throw Acid On Man

A court here has convicted a woman for the offence of attempting to throw acid on a man in 2016, saying the act showed her "malicious intent".

The court, however, said that the accused used "diluted acid", which did not cause any grievous injury, such as burns or disfigurement. Hence, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 326A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by the use of acid) could not be invoked in the case, it said.

Additional Sessions Judge Sachin Sangwan was hearing a case against Seema Soni, accused of throwing acid on victim Rehenur Islam on February 12, 2016.

According to the prosecution, Soni had said she would not leave Islam in a state to show his face to anyone.

"Accused Seema Soni is convicted for the offence under Section 326B (attempting to throw acid) of the IPC," the judge said in an order passed on August 4.

The court has posted the matter for filing affidavits on August 10, following which the arguments on sentencing will be heard.

Noting Soni's testimony, the court said it appeared that she was admittedly frustrated with Islam's conduct and had strong resentment against him. So, there was a motive to cause harm.

"It stands proved beyond reasonable doubt that it was accused only who threw acid on the complainant (Islam)," the court said noting the evidence before it.

It said according to the Medico-Legal Case (MLC), there was no permanent disfigurement of the head or face and it mentioned only redness of eyes and face, besides swelling of lips.

The court noted the absence of burns and partial damage, maiming or deformity of any body part and said there were no grievous injuries.

"It appears that the acid used on the complainant was not a concentrated one. Accordingly, the milder effect of the diluted acid takes it out of the scope of IPC Section 326A," it said.

But it did not mean that the accused would go "scot-free", the court said.

"It has been proved that the accused stated that she would not leave the complainant in a state to show his face to anyone. Even otherwise, the act of throwing acid itself shows the malicious intent of the accused," it said.

"Accused is liable to be convicted of the offence under IPC Section 326B," the court added.

Govindpuri police station had registered an FIR against Soni based on Islam's complaint.