En hustru gik til sin mand og sagde hun ville forlade ham – svaret var en dosis syre over dele af kroppen og store mén resten af livet, men hun er lykkelig for at have bevaret synet – andre er ikke så heldige i det fattige sydøstasiatiske land.
PHNOM PENH, 30 January 2013 (IRIN): Nhem Sreyda feels fortunate that she is still able to see after being doused (sprøjtet) with acid (syre) by her ex-husband in 2012. “I am lucky that my body can still work, my eyes can still see,” the 32-year-old told IRIN.
On 28 January, Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced Sreyda’s ex-husband Be Soeun to five years in prison for intentional violence using acid.
He was also ordered to pay 10 million riel (2.500 US dollar), after he threw battery acid on her face, chest and back when she told him she planned to remarry.
Be Soeun was the first person prosecuted (retsforfulgt) under Cambodia’s acid control law – adopted in December 2011 – and received the maximum sentence, based on his charge.
“It is an indication that this sort of behaviour will not be accepted and perpetrators (gerningsmænd) will be held accountable in accordance with the law,” said Ziad Samman.
He is project manager at the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC) and calls the ruling a “landmark” case.
Wanting “robust implementation of the law”
But while activists have lauded the decision, they also feel a more robust implementation of the law is needed.
Under the law, people can also be charged with “torture and cruel acts” using acid and sentenced to 10-30 years imprisonment, while “intentional killing” with acid can carry sentences ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment.
The law would be further tested when other cases, such as those involving fatalities (dødelig udgang), go to trial, because suspects could be charged with the heaviest offences, Samman said.
Sreyda feels her ex-husband should have been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison or made to pay more, and that the law has not yet been properly enforced.
“The tip of the iceberg”
Acid attacks, accidents and suicides involving acid, have long been documented in Cambodia.
Although reliable figures are difficult to determine, in 2012 CASC recorded nine people injured in seven acid attacks, four injured accidentally with acid, and two people who committed suicide by drinking acid.
CASC recorded 17 acid attacks resulting in 25 people being burnt in 2011; and 43 people burnt in 26 acid attacks in 2010.
However, according to Samman, these could well be just “the tip of the iceberg” as many cases may go unreported.
“It is possible to speculate that the development of this legislation and the law being put into effect and the coverage in the media may have acted as a disincentive for would-be perpetrators, [but] I cannot say for sure,” he said.
Sub-decree
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http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97370/Acid-attack-perpetrator-sentenced-under-new-Cambodian-law
