Acid Attack Survivor Shaheen Malik's 16-Year Battle Ends Without Justice, All 3 Accused Walk Free

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday acquitted three individuals 16 years after they were charged with criminal conspiracy in the 2009 Panipat acid attack case. Additional Sessions Judge Jagmohan Singh acquitted Yashvinder, Mandeep Mann, and Bala, citing a lack of evidence.

The three were accused of conspiring with a juvenile to carry out an acid attack on Panipat MBA student Shaheen Malik. The juvenile, who directly attacked the victim, was convicted on December 17, 2015, under IPC Section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide).

A court in Delhi's Rohini acquitted the three accused. An FIR was initially lodged in Panipat. Later on, the case was transferred to Delhi. The victim was a student at the time of the incident.

The court announced the verdict on Wednesday in camera.

This incident has sparked public scrutiny of the judgment and locals said justice has been denied to the victim.

Shaheen Malik reacted to the order, stating, "I feel broken not by the violence, but by this order. I trusted the justice system for 16 years."

In an exclusive interview with Republic, survivor Shaheen Malik said, “Among all four accused, the main executer was a juvenile and he was convicted by Juvenile Justice Boards within a year. I have identified all of them in court. It seems all my statements and evidence were ignored."

Reiterating her demand for justice, she said, “I was in my 20s when the acid attack happened. Today, I am in my early 40s. Who will seek for justice if it takes so long? All cases will see out of court settlement if things go on like this. I was offered crores of rupees. But, I  neither wanted money, a govt job or any compensation! I only wanted justice. It is a mockery of the justice system," Malik said.

“I didn't want crores. I only wanted justice…I have lost all hopes” she added.

Advocate Madiah Shahjar confirmed the intent to appeal and said, "Rohini court acquits three accused in the case on the ground that there is no sufficient evidence against them. We believe that the evidence we presented was not appropriately used in the judgment...There has been bias...Justice has not been delivered...We will file an appeal in the High Court."

According to reports, a detailed order in the matter would be issued on December 26.