“Medical and Psychological Consequences of Acid Attack on Victim”
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AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 “MEDICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF ACID ATTACK ON VICTIM” Mallika Tripathi B.A.LL.B.(HONS.) Law College Dehradun, Uttranchal University. email id - [email protected] ABSTRACT The impact of acid attack on the survivors physical and mental health is a crucial topic of discussion amongst the legal researchers , journalists and courts. The medical expenses paid by the survivors in their surgeries is a lot more than what had been paid to them as compensation. The psychological impact, on the other hand has gone unnoticed, from a very long time. Thus, under this topic, the author has made an effort by this paper to disclose the physiological as well as any psychological consequences of acid attack. INTRODUCTION Acid attack is one of the most horrific crime against the women which exist as a form of patriarchal dominance. It is not limited to any caste, class, profession etc. but is scare on the whole society. Its immediate consequences are often appreciated but the long term treatment required but the survivors including the complex surgeries are forgotten to be taken into by the people media or courts. The psychological repercusion are this visible, brutal and gender specific nature of acid Violence makes it more heinous then other crimes. These attacks make the life difficult for the survivors in getting married, getting job interacting with their families and friends etc. And sometimes their conditions so detoriates as they become dependent on other for each and every thing. The medical, psychological, social and economic consequences are very complex and interconnected and justice can be provided only when the survivors will get comprehensive and well-rounded course of treatment. 1. MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES AND TREATMENT Under this head we will deal with the immediate effect and the long-time repercussion of acid on the body of the victim. a) PHYSIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF ACID ATTACK ON THE BODY. Effect of acid attack on the body of the victim is permanent it badly curtails the movement and even the simplest of the tasks like eating drinking and chewing becomes difficult for the survivors. Acid burns cause injuries on face and upper body which provides irreversible scars on the survivors and they risk infections and complication from those injuries which due to poor treatment become even worse. i) IMMIDIATE CONSEQUENCES The highly corrosive substances such as hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid and nitric acid which are mostly used as cleaning products when comes into contact Volume 8, Issue 3, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 694 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 with the human body rapidly dissolves skin tissue, fat and muscles and since these are common cleaning products they are easily found in the market at a very cheap rate. These acids burns and penetrates deep enough causing serious organ damage and in order to stop the continuation of the burn, it should be washed off thoroughly with water. Victims suffer slow and painful death in many cases.1 Burns covering more than 50 per cent of the total body surface area are almost always fatal.2 Once a person has been attacked with acid he/she most probably experiences breathing difficulties as in most cases victims inhale acid which causes internal injuries and produce toxic reactions in the lungs and causes immediate throat swelling.3 Acid also burns the soft tissues like eyeballs due to which blindness may be caused, it also burns the lips, eyelids, nose cartilage, acid entering the ear canal makes the victim deaf, if it reaches scalp causes hair loss etc.4 ii) TARGETTED AREA In most of the cases acid is thrown at the face5 and due to this the upper arms, shoulders, neck chest also gets injured and other body parts like legs and feet remain less or usually unaffected. Sometimes people standing around the victims at the time of attack also gets injured or in attempt to save the victim they also get acid burns. iii) SCARRING Thick scars on the the burned areas become visible within few days of attack. It also affects the face by stretching and deforming the skin of the face, for example, it forces the eyes to be open permanently , lips are fused together or forced open with exposed teeth which makes eating and drinking difficult, deformed cheeks, skin pores melt due to acid which makes survivors skin dry,”6 neck, chest and chins etc. all are affected. There are scars on breast area and on arms etc. Scars around joints, neck, shoulder ,armpit etc causes disability in movement. And to cope up with such scars, one requires years of physiotherapy to bring back the elasticity of such tissues.7 Medical treatment in such circumstances need to be of good quality otherwise it may result into permanent disability or disfigurement. 1 Law commission of india,the inclusion of acid attack as specific offences in the indian penal code and a law for compensation for survivors report no. 226 (delhi: law commission of india 2008),8. 2 Nick r waldreon et al, “acid violence in comboudia :the human,medical and surgical implications,”burns(2014),4. 3 Ibid 9 4 Law commission of india, the inclusion of acid attacks,10 5 While the face is the most common target, the gender specific nature of Acid violence in India means that perpetrators also sometimes intentionally target the genitalia and breasts, presumably in some cases, because this expresses patriarchal ownership of the victim’s body and a corresponding entitlement to deny the victim her right to sexual autonomy. 6 http://www.stopacidattacks.org/p/medical.html. 7 Taiba zia, ‘acid violence in Pakistan,’ UCLA centre for the study of women (2013) Volume 8, Issue 3, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 695 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 iv) INFECTIONS AND COMPLICATIONS Risk of infections and complications is very high as the internal injuries caused by acid attacks lead to infections like septicaemia and gangrene and many times even death of victim. It has been found that due to sepsis, pulmonary, oedema, anesthesia and suicide ,patient have died during and after treatment. v) FURTHER INJURIES RESULTING FROM POOR TREATMENT Poor treatment leads to irreparable damage.8 Negligent and inappropriate physiotheraphy, using inappropriate substances and materials on burns leads to permanent damage .For example, using coconut oil and blankets etc. causes huge problems. b) MEDICAL TREATEMENT Medical treatement includes the following- i)Emergency treatement ii) Medicines and supplies iii) Physiotherapy iv) Surgery i) EMERGENCY TREATEMENT Emergency treatment is the first aid given to the victim of the acid attack. The treatment provided between the attack and availability of medical professionals is the emergency treatment. This first aid is very important as it reduces the damage caused by acid. It is very unfortunate, that the public is least aware of these first aid treatment regarding acid violence and what emergency care should be given to the survivors. They cover them with blankets, apply immaterial cooling substances etc. which makes the condition even worse. Following immediate measures have been advised by the “Acid survivors trust internationals” which is a UK based international non-profit organisation aiming to end acid violence at a global level - 1) To stop burning , one should first remove the clothes affected by the acid and pour water on the affected areas for at least half an hour and that water must be according to the room temperature. 2) Alkaline solution must be applied on the affected area to neutralise the effect of acid. 3) Medical facilities should be provided to the patient as soon as possible where treatment are conducted in the environment free from pathological micro-organisms; antiseptic dressing and antibiotic should be administered.9 Due to lack of training amongst the doctors to address acid injuries, incorrect substances like oil or blankets are used by the doctors which 8 Law commission of india, the inclusion of acid attacks, 9 Acid Survivors Trust International, “Pre-hospital approach to acid and burns patient management,” http://www.acidviolence.org/index.php/acid-violence/first-aid-information/ Volume 8, Issue 3, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 696 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 hampers the treatment, increasing the risk of scarring and extending recovery period, further damaging the skin. The case of Haseena Hussain is an example of ill and negligent treatment .In this case, Haseena who was and acid attack survivor was left unattended for three days in the hospital bed after being attacked by a former employee in the year 1991. The result of such negligence was told by Haseena. She says-“the acid continued to spread through my body and my injuries got deeper and deeper. After 6 months, I lost one ear, after a year and a half I lost my full vision, today I am totally blind.” 10 ii) MEDICINES AND SUPPLIES Medicines and supplies include the anti-scar ointments, gels, creams etc. which the survivor needs to recover from burns and surgeries.11 The cost provided for medication and supplies is very important . for example, in January 2012, an acid attack survivor received rupees 4000 for her initial treatment12 whereas in October 2012, Chanchal Paswan, another survivor of the attack received rupees 5 lakh for medication and treatment. Government and courts have to understand that the cost one needs is much higher than the one they are paid. iii) PHYSIOTHEREPY Physiotherapy plays a very critical role in rehabilitation process of a victim but Indian courts do not consider it as a necessary component of burn treatment . The complex process of physiotherapy is explained by “National burn centre” as- “changing process that may need to be modified daily.