This Article is From Dec 05, 2013

Leading by example, Supreme Court offers job to acid attack survivor

Leading by example, Supreme Court offers job to acid attack survivor

A Supreme Court judge has offered acid attack survivor Anu Mukherjee a job as a Junior Court Attendant.

New Delhi: For months, the Supreme Court has been stressing the need for rehabilitation for women attacked with acid.

Today, it led by example.

A Supreme Court judge has offered an acid attack survivor, Anu Mukherjee, a job as a Junior Court Attendant.

Ms Mukherjee, who is 33, was a dancer in Delhi till she was attacked in 2004 by a man who was allegedly acting on behalf of a jealous female colleague who danced at the same bar. Ms Mukherjee has been blind since then.

Justice Kurian Joseph is among the three judges Supreme Court judges who have been asking the government to ensure that the sale of acid is carefully regulated, that women who are targeted are provided free treatment including plastic surgery, and that those who sell acid to anyone without a photo ID are held culpable for the attack.

When contacted, Justice Joseph told NDTV that he read of Ms Mukherjee's ordeal in the media and sought a job for her.  

"I thought what little I could from my side not as a Judge but as a human being. I substituted my daughter or my sister in that place and that's how I responded," Justice Kurian said.

The sort of acid often used in attacks, often by jilted lovers and boyfriends, can currently be bought across the counter.

Tougher punishment for acid attackers was introduced in new laws for sexual violence after a student was fatally gang-raped on a moving bus in Delhi last December.

Anyone found guilty of an acid attack that causes "grievous injury" faces a minimum of 10 years behind bars and can be jailed for life in the most extreme cases.

In one particularly notorious recent incident, four sisters suffered severe burns after being attacked with acid by two men on a motorbike while they were walking home in northern India last year.
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