A Comparative Study of the Penal Policy of Iran, India and Pakistan in relation to the crime of acid attack

An acid attack is one of the crimes and inhumane and violent act that leaves destructive, irreparable and long-term physical and mental effects on the victim's body and mind. Scientific combating with this behavior requires the adoption of a prudent and comprehensive criminal policy based on the components of the severity of punishment and protection of the victim. The current research, taking into account the law of intensifying the punishment of acid attack and protecting the victims of it, approved in 2018 in Iran and the criminal law of the two countries of India and Pakistan, while analyzing the material and spiritual elements of this crime, the criminal policy of Iran and these two countries regarding this crime evaluates. Despite the innovations of Iran's new law compared to the previous law, there is still ambiguity in the physical behaviors covered by this law. Even though This is the fact that the two physical behaviors of injecting or feeding acid to another person are disputed in Iranian law, according to the penal code of the two countries of India and Pakistan, it is clearly mentioned in the category of the physical behavior of acid attack. In all three countries, the crime of acid attack is considered as a result crime. The word "acid" is defined as a means of committing a crime in two countries, India and Pakistan, while there is no definition of this word in Iranian law. Knowledge of the occurrence of a crime is explicitly provided in the criminal law of India and Pakistan as a substitute for intention. According to the penal code of India and Pakistan, the punishment for this crime is life imprisonment. Apart from imprisonment in Indian criminal law, fine is also provided as a guarantee of execution, and in this regard, it is emphasized that the fine should be given to the victim and also a fair and reasonable amount of it to provide the medical expenses and treatment of the victim.