On Thursday, December 15, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) sent a notice to Flipkart and Amazon after it was learnt that the acid used in the Dwarka acid attack incident in Delhi was bought from the e-commerce platform Flipkart. The DCW said that the availability of acid on Amazon and Flipkart is illegal, and sought details on the availability of acid on the e-commerce platforms.
The DCW took this step after Special Commissioner of Police, Sagar Preet Hooda said yesterday that the acid used in the attack was bought from the e-commerce platform Flipkart, and the payment was made online.
“DCW has learnt that accused bought acid through ‘Flipkart’ & that acid is easily available on ‘Amazon’ & ‘Flipkart’ which is illegal,” the letter reads as DCW seeks details on the same,” the notice read. “The easy of availability of acid on online platforms is a matter of grave concern and needs to be checked urgently,” the DCW said in the notice.
In the notice, DCW asked that these online marketplaces explain why acid is available there as well as full contact information for any vendors who have listed “acid” as a product.
It further inquired as to whether the seller’s licence was verified prior to posting the acid product on the website, and if not, it asked the e-commerce sites to specify the reasons. It further questioned whether photo ids of those purchasing acid online were sought. If yes, they were asked to provide a complete list of the purchasers along with the photo Ids of the buyers.
The DCW has also requested information on the people responsible for allowing the sale of acid on the portal, as well as information on the measures taken against them.
Highlighting the gravity of the matter, the Delhi Commission for Women has asked the e-commerce sites to send in their responses by December 20.
Availability of acid
While police said that the acid used in the attack was purchased from Flipkart, searches on both Amazon and Flipkart do not show any corrosive acid that can be used in such an attack. Searching for acid shows various healthcare products that include various kinds of acid which are not corrosive. Therefore, it is not what kind of acid was purchased online which was used in the attack.
Delhi acid attack incident
On Wednesday, December 14, a Class 12 student was on her way to school in southwest Delhi’s Dwarka when two men on a bike passed by and one of them flung acid at her. Within 24 hours of the acid attack incident, the Delhi Police arrested the three accused in the case.
According to the police, the motive behind the attack was ‘revenge’ as the main accused Sachin Arora (20) wanted to take revenge on the minor girl for calling off their friendship a few months ago.
The CCTV footage of the incident that emerged showed the teen recoiling and then running in pain. It showed a person named Harshit riding the bike while accused Sachin Arora throwing acid at the girl. Later on, Virendra took Sachin’s mobile phone and scooty so that the police cannot trace Sachin’s location.