Witness History
Witness History
Surviving an acid attack and changing the law
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October 13, 2023
10 minutes
Available for over a year
In 2013, India's Supreme Court made a landmark ruling aimed at transforming the lives of acid attack survivors.
It followed a campaign led by Laxmi Agarwal, who at the age of 15 was burned by acid thrown over her body.
The attack changed Laxmi’s life and scarred her face. In 2006, she took legal action demanding a ban on the sale of acid and more help for survivors.
But it took seven years of campaigning before the court made a ruling, as Laxmi tells Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: Laxmi Agarwal. Credit: Deepak Gupta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)