Real Stories of Acid Attack Survivors: Case Studies of Resilience

Acid attacks are among the most brutal forms of gender-based violence. They are not random acts of rage – they are calculated, targeted, and designed to destroy a person’s appearance, confidence, and future. In India, approximately 1,000 acid attacks are reported every year, though the actual number is believed to be far higher due to underreporting. Behind every statistic is a real person – someone who was going about their ordinary life before it was shattered in seconds. The three case studies below reflect very different circumstances, yet share a common thread: each story forced India to confront the severity of acid violence and, in some cases, change the laws around it.

Laxmi Agarwal: turning personal pain into a national movement
From survivor to legal champion
Haseena Hussain: the fight for justice that rewrote compensation law
A landmark court ruling on compensation
Preeti Rathi: the case that triggered India’s first death sentence for an acid attack
The injury, death, and the search for the accused
A historic verdict – and its limits
What these three stories reveal

Laxmi Agarwal: turning personal pain into a national movement

On April 22, 2005, fifteen-year-old Laxmi Agarwal was waiting at a bus stop in Delhi’s Khan Market area when a 32-year-old man named Naeem Khan, a family acquaintance, threw a bottle of acid on her face. The attack was an act of retaliation – Laxmi had repeatedly refused his marriage proposals, and he chose acid as his instrument of punishment.

The physical damage was extensive. The acid caused permanent facial scarring and vision impairment, requiring over a dozen reconstructive surgeries. But what followed the attack was, in many ways, just as painful. Survivors of acid attacks in India frequently face social rejection on top of their physical injuries – stares, whispers, and exclusion from public life. Laxmi experienced all of this.

From survivor to legal champion

Rather than withdrawing, Laxmi chose visibility. In 2006, she filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India seeking compensation for victims and a ban on the open sale of acid across the country. At the time, acid was freely available over the counter in India – sometimes for as little as ₹30 per litre.

The PIL, formally known as Laxmi v. Union of India, took years to reach its conclusion, but in July 2013 the Supreme Court issued binding guidelines mandating that states regulate acid sales, provide a minimum compensation of ₹3 lakhs to survivors, and classify acid attacks as specific criminal offences under Indian law. Critically, the court also ruled that acid could not be sold without valid ID proof, and that no minor could purchase it.

Laxmi did not stop at legal reform. She joined the “Stop Acid Attacks” campaign and, in 2014, co-founded the Chhanv Foundation – an NGO that provides acid attack survivors with medical treatment, legal aid, counselling, and rehabilitation support. Through the foundation, she helped more than 100 survivors across India, and also opened Sheroes Hangout, a café in Agra staffed by acid attack survivors, giving them livelihood and dignity. In 2014, she received the International Women of Courage Award, presented by then US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Her story was later adapted into the 2020 Bollywood film Chhapaak, starring Deepika Padukone – bringing national mainstream attention to the issue of acid violence in India.

Haseena Hussain: the fight for justice that rewrote compensation law

Haseena Hussain’s case is one of the earliest and most legally significant acid attack cases in India. On April 20, 1999, Haseena was on her way to work in Bangalore when her former employer, Joseph Rodrigues, attacked her. She had recently left his employment – a decision that had triggered financial losses for him and, alongside her rejection of his marriage proposal, led him to take an extreme and devastating step.

Rodrigues poured approximately 1.5 litres of sulphuric acid on her. The consequences were catastrophic. Haseena suffered burns across 65 percent of her body, her face was severely disfigured, her shoulder and neck fused together, and she was blinded for life. She was initially refused admission to a private hospital without a large sum upfront, and spent three days at a government hospital without adequate medical attention.

A landmark court ruling on compensation

The attacker was initially convicted and sentenced to five years in prison – a punishment Haseena viewed as grossly inadequate. She appealed, and in 2006 the Karnataka High Court delivered a significantly stronger verdict. Rodrigues was convicted under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court also ordered him to pay Haseena’s parents ₹2,00,000 in compensation, in addition to the trial court fine of ₹3,00,000.

This was the first time a substantial financial amount was awarded to an acid attack victim specifically to cover medical expenses, including cosmetic surgery. While the compensation was legally historic, Haseena herself has been clear about its real-world limits. She went through 35 plastic surgeries, with total costs approaching ₹20 lakh – far beyond what any compensation scheme covered. Her parents sold their home and her mother’s jewellery to fund her treatment.

Today, Haseena continues to speak out and support other survivors. Her case also became a reference point in the advocacy work of the Campaign and Struggle Against Acid Attacks on Women (CSAAAW), which used it to build pressure for a broader PIL demanding access to speedy justice, medical care, and compensation for acid attack survivors in Karnataka.

Preeti Rathi: the case that triggered India’s first death sentence for an acid attack

Preeti Rathi’s story is one of ambition cut brutally short. A 23-year-old woman from Delhi, Preeti had secured a prestigious position as a nursing officer with the Indian Navy, set to join the INHS Asvini Hospital in Colaba, Mumbai. On the morning of May 2, 2013, as she alighted from the Garib Rath Express at Bandra Terminus with her family, an unknown person hurled nearly two litres of sulphuric acid at her and immediately fled.

The attacker turned out to be Ankur Panwar, a neighbour and family acquaintance from Delhi. Panwar had reportedly grown deeply resentful of Preeti’s success – his own parents had frequently compared his unemployment to her accomplishments. He had also made romantic overtures that she rejected. He covered his face with a handkerchief and followed her all the way to Mumbai on the same train.

The injury, death, and the search for the accused

Preeti sustained severe burns to her throat and lungs, and was placed on a ventilator. She could not speak and communicated only by writing on paper. After nearly a month of intensive treatment across multiple hospitals, she succumbed to cardiac arrest and organ failure on June 1, 2013 – the cause of death was recorded as septicemia due to acid burns.

Identifying the attacker proved difficult since Panwar had concealed his face. The case was initially handled by railway police, then transferred to the Mumbai Crime Branch following a Bombay High Court direction. A 1,332-page charge sheet was filed, with 98 witnesses listed. Panwar was finally arrested from his home in Delhi in January 2014, around eight months after the attack. Call data records placing him on the same train as Preeti proved crucial to the prosecution’s case.

A historic verdict – and its limits

In September 2016, a special Mumbai women’s court found Panwar guilty of murder and sentenced him to death – the first death penalty ever awarded in an acid attack case in India following the 2013 amendments to the Indian Penal Code. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam argued the case fell in the “rarest of rare” category, describing it as a pre-planned attack on a woman who had done nothing wrong.

However, in 2019, the Bombay High Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, ruling that the case did not meet the threshold of “rarest of rare” required for capital punishment. Panwar’s conviction for murder and voluntarily causing grievous hurt with acid was upheld. The verdict deeply affected the acid attack survivor community, many of whom felt the reduced sentence failed to reflect the gravity of the crime.

What these three stories reveal

Each of these cases highlights a different dimension of acid violence in India. Laxmi’s case shows how a survivor’s personal legal battle can reshape national law. Haseena’s case established the precedent for financial compensation to cover medical costs. And Preeti’s case demonstrates the cost of inaction – a young woman lost her life before she could even begin her career, and the legal process took years to deliver a verdict that many still consider inadequate.

Together, these stories also expose a systemic truth: every single step of the journey towards justice for acid attack survivors has been marked by institutional barriers – from delayed police action to inadequate compensation to social stigma. Laws have been strengthened since 2013, including the introduction of Sections 326A and 326B of the Indian Penal Code, which mandate a minimum ten-year sentence for acid attacks. But enforcement remains inconsistent. Survivors routinely struggle to access both adequate medical care and fair compensation in practice.

The courage of survivors like Laxmi, Haseena, and the memory of Preeti Rathi are not just personal stories – they are the foundation upon which India’s evolving legal framework around acid attacks has been built. And they continue to be the moral argument for why that framework must be strengthened further.

What do you think? Given that India has passed laws regulating acid sales and introduced mandatory minimum sentences for acid attacks, why do you think enforcement remains so inconsistent on the ground? And what does it say about a society when survivors must often lead the legal fight for their own justice – rather than the state doing so on their behalf?

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Table of Contents

Laxmi Agarwal: turning personal pain into a national movement 🔗

From survivor to legal champion 🔗

Haseena Hussain: the fight for justice that rewrote compensation law 🔗

A landmark court ruling on compensation 🔗

Preeti Rathi: the case that triggered India’s first death sentence for an acid attack 🔗

The injury, death, and the search for the accused 🔗

A historic verdict – and its limits 🔗

What these three stories reveal 🔗