More and more acid attack survivors are now coming forward and fighting the trauma after such an attack more confidently now as compared to the past, said acid attack survivor laxmi Agarwal. For her crusade on the issue, Agarwal is known as voice of the acid attack survivors. She was addressing the media here on Sunday.
Agarwal said that the after the historic judgment of Supreme Court in the year 2013 which imposed ban on sale of acid, a marked change has occurred in the society towards the victims of the acid attacks. She, however, accepted that acid is still freely available in markets in most of the places and cases of acid attacks are still common.
Agarwal demanded that separate fast track courts should be constituted for speedy justice to the acid attack victims. “The Government should also make some provisions like offering reservation in jobs for the acid attack survivors. Still more than 500 acid attack cases take place in India and in 70 per cent of such cases the victim is a female,’’ she said.
Agarwal was in Dehradun for participating in the 6th Founder’s Day programme of 'Ecole Globale International Girls School', Dehradun. The programme was also attended by Badminton star Jwala Gutta.
A communiqué from the school informed that the duo inspired the students by sharing their experiences with them. In the interaction with the students, Gutta encouraged the students to always stand up for what they felt was right, just as she herself had been brought up to do. The 14 time national champion advised the girls never to accept unfairness or unequal treatment silently.
In his address, the President of Ecole Globale International Girls’ School, Amarjeet Singh Juneja, described the guests as the ‘perfect role models’ for the girls.
Presenting the Annual Report of the school for the preceding year, the Principal of the school, Nandita Sahu said that while it was important to acknowledge past achievements, it was equally important to gear up for future challenges. Describing Jwala Gutta and laxmi Agarwal as true women of substance, she expressed the hope that they would inspire the girl students of Ecole to live their lives with pride and self belief, and always be prepared to fight against injustice in any form.