Kupwara Acid Attack | Man gets 8-year imprisonment in 22-year-old case

Srinagar, Oct 30: The Principal Sessions Court Kupwara Monday sentenced a man to eight years imprisonment for throwing acid on the face of his neighbor, who was grievously hurt nearly 22 years ago in north Kashmir’s Kupwara village.

The court also awarded punishment to four other family members of the convict for attacking the victim.

After they were convicted for various offences under the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), now replaced by the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Principal Sessions Judge Kupwara Shazia Tabasum awarded punishment to Muhammad Jamal Bhat of Krishpora, Nagri Malpora, Kupwara, his wife Sonamali, and daughters Haleema, Sara, and Shakeela.

The prosecution case was that on April 27, 2001, the complainant, Abdul Rashid Dar accompanied by his injured daughter-in-law approached Police Station Kupwara, stating that he had planted poplar trees in his landed property adjacent to his residential house.

Adjacent to his house was the house of the accused, Jamal Bhat, who was allegedly uprooting the poplars.

Dar asked Bhat to desist from his acts.

“The family members of Bhat including his wife Sonamali, his daughters Haleema, Sara, and Shakeela trespassed Bhat’s landed property, uprooted the poplars, and threw them away,” the prosecution said. Meanwhile, the sons of Bhat – Bashir Ahmad and Abdul Rashid and the wife of Bashir Ahmad, Zareefa, arrived on the spot for intervention and were also assaulted by the accused with canes.

The accused Bhat, according to the prosecution, asked his daughter Sara to get the steel glass which contained some poisonous substance, and splashed it on the face of Dar with an intention of murder because of which the whole face of Dar got severely burnt on the spot.

His daughter-in-law, Zareefa also sustained burn injuries due to the splashing of the acid.

Despite this, the accused continued to carry the assault upon the complainant party with canes and thereafter fled from the spot.

Dar and the other injured were shifted to a Handwara hospital for treatment.

After the registration of the case at Police Station Handwara bearing FIR No 85 of 2001, its investigation culminated in the presentation of the chargesheet against the accused for the commission of offences under Sections 307, 447, 148, 323, 324, and 325 of the RPC.

The case was committed to Principal Sessions Court on September 4, 2001, and the charges for the commission of offences under Sections 307, 447, 148, 323, 324, and 325 of the RPC came to be framed against the accused on April 11, 2002.

After hearing the parties, the court sentenced Bhat to undergo rigorous Imprisonment of 8 years and imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on him for the commission of offence under Section 326 of the RPC.

For the commission of offence under Section 307 of the RPC, he was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment of 5 years and a fine of Rs 5000.

For the offence under Section 324 of RPC, Bhat was sentenced to simple imprisonment of 2 years and a payment of a fine of Rs 3000.

For the commission of offences under Section 148 of the RPC, the convict was sentenced to simple imprisonment of 1 year and a payment of a fine of Rs 3000 while for the offence under Section 447 of the RPC, he was sentenced to pay a fine of Rs 3000.

In case of default in payment of the fine, which has been imposed for the commission of the offences, the court said Bhat would further undergo simple imprisonment for 12 months.

Accordingly, the court sentenced Sonamali, Haleema, Saara, and Shakeela to undergo simple imprisonment for 2 years for the commission of offences under Section 324 of the RPC and payment of a fine of Rs 5000 each.

Besides, the court sentenced the four convicts to pay a fine of Rs 3000 each, for the commission of offences under Section 323 of the RPC.

While the court sentenced the four to a fine of Rs 1000 each for the offence under Section 447, it sentenced them to simple imprisonment for 1 year and payment of a fine of Rs 1000 each for the commission of offence under Section 148.

In case of default in payment of the fine, the court said that the four convicts would undergo simple imprisonment of 3 months each.

“The fine so imposed upon the convicts, if realised will be deposited before this court and should be paid to the victim Abdul Rashid Dar as compensation,” it said.

While the court ordered that the period of detention already undergone by the convicts during the investigation and trial of the case should be set off, it said that the sentence, awarded to the convicts, would run concurrently.