All hell broke loose when Samapti’s mother-in-law Geeta Mondal did the unthinkable to take revenge following a family dispute with Samapti.

Geeta threw acid on her daughter-in-law and grandson, an offence for which the maximum punishment is death penalty.

But she is unlikely to face punishment as Sampati has not brought any charges against her considering  family and the society of Bangladesh.

No-one thjought Samapti would survive but she still lives with the family, including her tormentor, and the acid burns on her body keep reminding her of that horrific night.

Little Snighdhajit had faced life-threating injuries in the attack but he defied the odds to survive with the skin of his face and head badly burnt.

Isolated and stigmatised, Samapti said she can accept her own sufferings, but she feels helpless whenever she looks at her son.

“Whatever happened to me can’t be reversed. I feel physical pain; but it feels more painful when I think about my son’s future. He won’t be able to work and earn if we fail to provide him education but we are poor,” she said.

Widespread movements, awareness campaigns and stricter enforcement of the law helped reduce the number of acid violence incidents following a dramatic spike that shook Bangladesh in 2002.

But still the crime has prevailed with the women and children being the prime target. And people like Samapti and Snighdhajit still cannot get justice.

ACID VIOLENCE SITUATION

At least 3,802 people have been injured in 3,422 acid attacks since 1999, according to Acid Survivors Foundation.

The foundation has a monitoring cell of its own. It also collects data from the media, NGOs and the survivors.

Last year, 21 people were attacked in 19 cases of acid violence. This year, the number of victims has reached 23 in 20 incidents until October.

While 99 percent of the acid violence targets are women, men were being targeted as well for the past few years, according to the ASF.

Also, at least a fourth of the victims were children. Their mothers were the main targets in most of the cases.

Most of the targets of acid attack are aged between 13 to 35 years.

Family feud, dowry demand, land dispute, spurned proposal to marry or to get in a relationship, preventing the husband from divorcing wife or from a second marriage are the common reasons behind an acid attack, according to the ASF.

Women refusing to have sex with men leads them to face acid violence, according to Ain O Salish Kendra, a legal rights organisation.

The number of acid violence incidents declined after the movement in the 90s and onward, but there has been an upward trend recently, said Aditi Sabur, the associate professor of the women and gender studies department at Dhaka University.

“I believe crime has increased this year. This year, there has been a sharp rise in domestic violence, rape or sexual assault from the last few years,” Aditi said.

“This must be the effect of the coronavirus pandemic that has made the disparity between men and women at home as well as in society more prominent. It also highlights the inequality in the relations between men and women.”

Associate Professor Khandaker Farzana Rahman , the chairperson of the university’s  criminology department, disagrees. He refuses to consider the pandemic to be a factor behind the rise in gender-based violence.

Rather, it is the “criminals” being politically influential that plays a key role in the rise of acid violence, believes Prof Mizanur Rahman, the former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission.

“We have been noticing the upsurge in crime in some specific segments in society. As our politics has been criminalised in a certain way, it is pushing up the numbers of different types of crimes," Mizanur said.

And the rise in other crimes shrouded the incidents of acid violence in the country, said Prof Zia Rahman of the Dhaka University’s criminology department.

“A wave of different types of crime hits the country at  different times. Acid violence may have gotten concealed behind the crimes now rampant in the country,” the professor said.

LINGERING CASES

At least 600 cases of acid violence are under trial in the lower courts and the High Court, said Tahmina Islam, Programme Officer of the Acid Survivors Foundation.

ASF recorded 494 incidents of acid violence in 2002, highest in two decades. This year it recorded 21 incidents in the first nine months.

Cases have been filed over only five among the 21 incidents this year, according to the Ain O Salish Kendra or ASK. Enough information could not be gathered for the filing   of the cases over the 16 other incidents.

Offences under the Acid Crime Control Act must be trialled in the Acid Crime Control Tribunal, which has 90 working days to dispose of a case, according to the law.

A total of 2,169 cases were filed over acid violence in the country from 2002 to 2019. The suspects in only 199 of the cases were convicted, according to ASF. At least 1,950 suspects were acquitted due to a lack of evidence.

At least 14 accused were handed the capital punishment in the last 18 years over the cases of acid violence, but none of it was executed, according to the home ministry. 

WILL TANIA GET JUSTICE?

Tania Zaman, 28, from Bahira village in Narail was severely injured when the assailants threw acid on her allegedly following a dispute with neighbours over land and money.

Her neighbour Jewel Mollah had borrowed Tk 1.5 million from her to run his paddy and fisheries business. Tania had accumulated the amount by taking loan from an NGO and also from pawnbrokers by giving her jewellery as security.

When she wanted the money back, Molla threatened to kill her by throwing acid, Tania alleged. 

On Aug 13, Tania filed a general diary with Narail Central Police Station and went to her husband’s home in Shankarpasha village in Jashore. She returned to Narail on Aug 16 when a village arbitration was scheduled to settle the issue.

“The next day Jewel and his accomplices threw acid on me and fled after 8 pm.”

She was initially taken to the Narail Central Hospital and then shifted to Khulna Medical College Hospital.

Police arrested Jewel, 40, Wahidul Islam, 62 and Biplab Molla, 50 on Aug 18.

“My left hand is almost crippled after the burn. I can’t move it. I can’t even sleep. I am still afraid,” Tania said, pointing out that the suspects walked free on bail only six days after their arrest on the next day of the attack.

Tania now stays with a relative in Jashore because she fears that she will not survive another attack if she returns to Narail.   

She also alleged that the police inspector investigating the case is delaying submission of the chargesheet to the tribunal after taking bribes from the accused.

“How long can I live without treatment for my wounds? Will I ever get justice?” Tania asked.

NO REGULATION IN ACID SALE

Different types of acid can be found in nature, mostly in sour fruits. Even human bodies produce acids for certain purposes.

But strong inorganic acids, such as hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid that are used in steel, battery, fertiliser and many other industries, are highly corrosive. Thus, they can be used as a weapon.

Along with the law to prevent acid crimes, the government also passed the Acid Control Act in 2002 to halt unauthorised sale of the liquid substance.

With acid attacks still occurring in the country, the efficacy of the law is now in question.

Senior Assistant Secretary Sarwoer Alam, who had led numerous drives, including some on the acid shops and warehouses in Old Dhaka, as an executive magistrate of the Rapid Action Battalion, pointed out two ways through which acid is falling in the wrong hands.

Many people sell acid without a licence while the authorised traders show discrepancy in their stock and sales accounts to hide illegal sale, according to him.

Anyone can buy acid from Old Dhaka, said a trader.

“Our (traders’) greed is allowing unauthorised people to get hold of acid. We could have prevented the 20 to 21 incidents (of acid attack) every year had we been more careful,” he said. The trader requested not to be named.     

“Small traders in remote areas happily sell it if a customer pays Tk 200 extra for a small quantity of acid. This is not right.

He suggested making it mandatory for the traders to note down a customer’s name and address in order to prevent more attacks.

Acid is used in almost everything from like car battery to  IPS to toothpaste, said Mohammad Ullah Palash, president of Bangladesh Acid Merchants Association, which has more than 26,000 registered members across the country.     

But many of these traders cannot sell acid due to the stringent law, Mohammadullah complained.

He blamed mentality of the people, not the availability of acid, for the continuation of the attacks.     

“Earlier, 3 percent of the total crime in the country was the acid violence incidents, which has now dropped to 0.3 percent. This is really nominal considering the population and other crimes,” he said.

ACID CONTROL COUNCIL DOESN’T MEET REGULARLY

The National Acid Control Council was formed to implement the goals of the Acid Control Act. The home minister is the chairman of the council while the women and children affairs minister is the co-chairman.

The council is supposed to meet at least once every three months to discuss the production, transportation, stock, sale and control of acid and also the treatment, rehabilitation and legal aid for the survivors of acid attack.  There was, however, no meeting of the council this year.

Two meetings were held after Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal became the home minister, while no meeting was held after Benazir Ahmed became the police chief, said acid merchants’ leader Mahmudullah, who is also a member of the council.

A drop in acid violence cases from 5 percent in 1988 to 0.3 percent in at present could be the reason behind the authorities not holding a meeting, he believes.

But such notion angered Sardar Jahangir Hossain, executive director of ASF.

“A kind of complacency took over us; even the National Acid Control Council doesn’t meet regularly,”

“The committee has been reformed. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic has been going on for the past nine months. Therefore, we couldn’t call a meeting. But we are alert on the issue,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

Acid crimes have dropped and the law enforcing agencies are quite active to prevent it, the minister said. “And there has beem a fund for the issue, though the victims never seek funds,” he said. 

More work, especially coordinated initiatives need to be done to drag down the acid attacks to zero, believes Sardar Jahangir Hossain.

A change in people’s mindset and in lengthy judiciary system is needed to eliminate this violence against women, said Prof Aditi Sabur.

“Besides drafting laws, a change in social thoughts is necessary to end the violence against women. Or else the incidents of violence could escalate again anytime,” she said.

[Additional reporting by Senior Correspondents Liton Haider and Kamal Hossain Talukdar]