HC lets off acid attacker after he marries victim
In a Bombay High Court judgement that seems as if it is straight out of a Bollywood film, a man, who was serving life imprisonment for throwing acid on his exgirlfriend, has been let off after he discharged the ‘honourable’ act of marrying the acid attack victim and even offered to donate his skin for the girl to undergo plastic surgery.
A division bench of Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Sarang Kotwal came to the rescue of Anil Patil, who was convicted by a trial court in Khed, Ratnagiri. He had challenged the judgment of the trial court, which in 2013 sentenced him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a lifetime. He was convicted for throwing acid on his exgirlfriend, who refused to marry him.
The bench, while ordering Patil’s release after nearly eight years, considered the fact that he and the victim have ‘amicably’ settled the matter and the duo have married.
“The appellant (Patil) has already undergone the sentence of more than eight years. We find that the said sentence is more than sufficient taking into consideration the nature of the factual background,” Justice Gavai said.
‘‘We find that Patil and the victim have decided to lead a peaceful life and have also decided to get the victim treated from a plastic surgeon for which he has undertaken to donate his skin. Thus, it is just and necessary that Patil and the victim be permitted to lead a peaceful life,” Justice Gavai added.
According to the prosecution, Patil had proposed to the girl but she rebuffed him. The denial enraged Patil and in April 2010, when the girl was heading to her college with her friends, she was shocked to see him with a bottle of acid in his hands.
Patil hurled the acid on the
girl, destroying her face and shoulder. He was subsequently arrested and convicted on the basis of the testimony of the girl and her friends.
In his plea before the bench of Justice Gavai, Patil highlighted the fact that he has ‘already’ married the victim in June 2017 and now wants to donate his skin for her plastic surgery.