Image copyright Courtesy: Hindustan Times Image caption Preeti Rathi's parents grieve over a photograph of their daughter

A man in the Indian city of Mumbai has been sentenced to death for a fatal acid attack on a woman at a busy railway station three years ago, in what is being seen as a legal landmark.

Preeti Rathi, who was 23 when she was murdered, had just arrived from Delhi to join the Indian navy as a nurse.

Her neighbour Ankur Panwar attacked her after she rejected a marriage proposal.

It is the first such sentence for an acid attack in India. Many such attacks go unpunished, campaigners say.

Panwar, 25, was convicted of murder and other offences at a special court in the city on Tuesday. He is likely to appeal against the verdict in a higher court.

On Thursday, the special court said that the crime fell within the "rarest of rare" category which justified the death penalty.

Ms Rathi, who suffered severe injuries to her lungs and eyes in the attack on 2 May 2013, died a month later.

A month after her death, India's Supreme Court ordered federal and state governments to regulate the sale of acid.

Image copyright Courtesy: Hindustan Times

The court ruled that acid could only be sold to people who showed a valid identity card. However, critics say that it is still widely and easily available.

According to government figures, there are hundreds of such attacks a year; but campaigners say the real figures are much higher.</s>MUMBAI: An Indian court sentenced a man to death Thursday for murdering a woman by throwing acid on her face after she rejected his marriage proposal, a decision applauded by the victim’s family.

Ankur Panwar was found guilty on Tuesday of hurling sulphuric acid on 24-year-old Preeti Rathi in a fit of jealousy outside a railway station in the financial capital Mumbai in May 2013.

Rathi, who was a neighbor of Panwar’s in New Delhi and had just arrived in Mumbai to start a new job as a nurse, died in hospital of multiple organ failure the following month.

“The court has awarded the death penalty to Ankur Panwar. I convinced the court that the acid attack belonged to the rarest of rare cases,” public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told Agence France-Presse.

The Supreme Court says capital punishment should only be carried out in “the rarest of rare” cases in India, among a dwindling group of nations that still have the death penalty on their statute books.

Panwar’s lawyer said they would appeal the verdict—delivered at a special court dealing with crimes against women—to the Bombay High Court, Mumbai’s highest.

“We are moving the case to the high court. There is no second thought about it,” Apeksha Vora told Agence Fance-Presse.

Police alleged Panwar, reportedly 26, and a hotel management graduate, had committed the crime out of jealousy after she rejected his marriage proposal and had wanted to disfigure her face to destroy her career.

Nikam successfully argued that Panwar’s attack had been pre-meditated. Vora had pleaded leniency for her client, saying that he was his family’s sole breadwinner.

“We had sought the death penalty since the beginning so the verdict is good. Now, we want it to be carried out without any delay,” Hitesh Rathi, Preeti’s brother, told AFP.

Hundreds of acid attacks occur in India and other nations every year, but experts say these figures are likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg, with scores of survivors facing lifelong scars and social stigma. AFP</s>An Indian court sentenced a man to death on Thursday for murdering a woman by throwing acid on her face after she rejected his marriage proposal, in a landmark judgement.

Ankur Panwar was found guilty on Tuesday of hurling sulphuric acid on 24-year-old Preeti Rathi in a fit of jealousy outside a railway station in the financial capital Mumbai in May 2013.

Rathi, who was a neighbour of Panwar's in New Delhi and had just arrived in Mumbai to start a new job as a nurse, died in hospital of multiple organ failure the following month.

"The court has awarded the death penalty to Ankur Panwar. I convinced the court that the acid attack belonged to the rarest of rare cases," public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told AFP.

The Supreme Court says capital punishment should only be carried out in "the rarest of rare" cases in India, among a dwindling group of nations that still have the death penalty on their statute books.

"This is a landmark judgement for such crimes. This is the first time that such a judgement has been passed for an acid attack-related case against a woman," said Nikam.

Activists welcomed the sentence which they said would go a long way to preventing future attacks, but criticised the length of time taken to bring the offender to justice.

"It is a welcome judgement but it has come too late. It took a fast-track court three years to punish the guilty," said Sonali Mukherjee, whose own face was severely disfigured in 2003 by a group of men who have been convicted but are on bail pending an appeal.

About 300 acid attacks were reported in India in 2015, according to the latest official crime figures. Experts say these figures and similar ones in other South Asian countries are likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg.

Deaths are rare but scores of survivors face lifelong scars and battle social stigma.

India's Supreme Court ordered states in 2013 to enforce restrictions on the sale of acid in a bid to curb attacks, but Mukherjee and other campaigners say it remains easy to purchase.

The victim's family applauded Thursday's decision, saying it should now be swiftly carried out.

"We had sought the death penalty since the beginning so the verdict is good. Now, we want it to be carried out without any delay," Hitesh Rathi, Preeti's brother, told AFP.

Police alleged Panwar, reportedly 26, and a hotel management graduate, had committed the crime out of jealousy after she rejected his marriage proposal and had wanted to disfigure her face to destroy her career.

Panwar's lawyer said she would appeal the verdict -- delivered at a special court dealing with crimes against women -- to the Bombay High Court, Mumbai's highest.

"We are moving the case to the high court. There is no second thought about it," Apeksha Vora told AFP.

Nikam successfully argued that Panwar's attack had been pre-meditated. Vora had pleaded leniency for her client, saying that he was his family's sole breadwinner.</s>A man who killed a woman by hurling acid in her face when she rejected his marriage proposal has been sentenced to death in India in what is being seen as a legal landmark.

Preeti Rathi, who was 23 when she was murdered, had just arrived from Delhi to join the Indian navy as a nurse.

Her neighbour Ankur Panwar attacked her after she rejected a marriage proposal.

Her threw sulphuric acid on her in a fit of jealously outside a railway station in Mumbai in May 2013.

She died in hospital of multiple organ failure the next month.

'The court has awarded the death penalty to Ankur Panwar. I convinced the court that the acid attack belonged to the rarest of rare cases, public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told AFP.

Nikam added: 'This is a landmark judgement for such crimes. This is the first time that such a judgement has been passed for an acid attack-related case against a woman.'

Police said Panwar, a hotel management graduate, had committed the heinous crime out of jealously when she rejected his marriage proposal.

He had wanted to disfigure her face to destroy her career.

The victim's family welcome today's decision and said the death penalty should now be swiftly carried out.

'We had sought the death penalty since the beginning so the verdict is good. Now, we want it to be carried out without any delay,' Hitesh Rathi, Preeti's brother, told AFP.

Activists welcomed the sentence which they said would go a long way to preventing future attacks, but criticised the length of time taken to bring the offender to justice.

Sonali Mukherjee, whose own face was severely disfigured in 2003 by a group of men who have been convicted but are on bail pending an appeal, said: 'It is a welcome judgement but it has come too late. It took a fast-track court three years to punish the guilty.'

About 300 acid attacks were reported in India in 2015, according to the latest official crime figures.

Experts said these figures and similar ones in other South Asian countries are likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg.

Deaths are rare but scores of survivors face lifelong scars and social stigma.

India's Supreme Court ordered states in 2013 to enforce restrictions on the sale of acid to try and curb attacks, but Mukherjee and other campaigners claim that it remains easy to purchase.

Panwar's lawyer said she would appeal the verdict - delivered at a special court dealing with crimes against women - to the Bombay High Court, Mumbai's highest.

'We are moving the case to the high court. There is no second thought about it,' Apeksha Vora told AFP.

During the trial, Vora had pleaded leniency for her client and said he was his family's sole breadwinner.</s>Indian man sentenced to death for killing woman with acid

NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian court has sentenced a man to death for killing his neighbor by throwing sulfuric acid at her for refusing to marry him three years ago.

It is the first death sentence given for an acid attack under stringent laws introduced by the government to curb crimes against women following the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.

Prosecutors said the Mumbai court sentenced Ankur Panwar on Thursday after finding him guilty of killing the 23-year-old woman, who died of serious burn injuries.

They said Panwar followed the woman on a train from New Delhi where they lived and attacked her with acid as she got off in Mumbai to begin a nursing career with the navy.</s>First capital punishment in Maharashtra in an acid attack case

In the first such order in an acid attack case in Maharashtra, a special women’s court here sentenced Ankur Panwar to death on Thursday. He was convicted of the charge of throwing acid on Preeti Rathi at Bandra station in 2013 after she chose to pursue her nursing career, declining his proposal for marriage.

Special Judge Anju S. Shende said: “According to the mitigating and aggravating circumstances, the facts of the case and the recent acid attack judgments by the Supreme Court, the accused is sentenced to death… , subject to confirmation by the Bombay High Court.”

She said the accused could appeal against the judgment within 30 days.

The court gave its judgment based on the statements of eyewitnesses and the fact that he was unable to explain the acid marks on his hand. It observed: “He wanted to have her and he could not get her, that is why he wanted to destroy her. The height of brutality in acid attacks is more than that in the cases of rape. Rape is considered as destroying the very soul of the victim, but even then if she is kept at a safe place she can stay without disclosing her identity; but in the case of an acid attack, they [the victims] have to move around with their bodies. I consider him a sadist as called by the prosecutor and I did not find that he could be reformed.”

On May 2, 2013, Preeti came from New Delhi to Mumbai by train to take up a nursing job at the INHS Asvini Hospital.

Panwar, Preeti’s neighbour in Narela, followed her on the same train and threw acid at her when she alighted at Bandra.

The Mumbai District Legal Services Authority awarded Rs. 2,02,000 to Preeti’s family after she died of burns and injuries a month after the attack.

Defence lawyer Apeksha Vora said Preeti had died because of medical negligence as the acid was not proved to be sulphuric acid, and Panwar was falsely implicated because he was arrested seven months after the incident. However, Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam said Panwar threw the acid on Preeti as she wanted to pursue her career in Mumbai and he wanted to marry her.</s>An Indian teenager who lost an eye and whose face was brutally disfigured in an acid attack walked the New York catwalk to whoops and cheers Thursday in what she called a life-changing experience.

Reshma Qureshi, 19, brushed off nerves to stride the runway like a pro in a stunning cream and floral floor-length gown by Indian designer Archana Kochhar on the first official day of New York Fashion Week.

"I feel really good and the experience was great," she told AFP afterward, speaking in Hindi through a translator. "I feel as though it has definitely changed my life."

She was invited to take part by FTL Moda, a fashion production company committed to challenging industry stereotypes of beauty and which last year invited a model with Down Syndrome to take part.

Qureshi, whose ambition remains to finish the last two grades of high school and go to college, said she hoped her participation would send a powerful message to other acid attack survivors.

"Why should we not enjoy our lives? What happened to us is not our fault and we've done nothing wrong and so we should also move forward in life," she told AFP the night before the show.

Acid attacks, which overwhelmingly target women and children, are a particular scourge in Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the West Indies and the Middle East.

In India, an estimated 500 to 1,000 attacks take place each year, and while they rarely kill they leave severe physical, psychological and social scars that can see victims ostracized and hidden away.

Thursday's show came the same day an Indian court sentenced a man to death for murdering a 24-year-old woman by throwing acid on her face after she rejected his offer of marriage, in a landmark judgement.

Since Qureshi was attacked by her brother-in-law in 2004, pinned down by his friends and her face doused in acid, she has become the face of a campaign to end the open sale of acid in India.

As slim as any professional model and with thick, luxurious hair, she appears in YouTube videos, filmed in her home base of Mumbai, and offering beauty tips and make-up advice.

Just moments before hitting the catwalk she clung to the arm of a floor assistant. But with her hair swept into a chignon with a delicate headpiece, professional make-up and her model frame flattered by the curves of the gown, she quickly turned into a natural.

"I want to tell the world -- do not see us in a weak light and see that even we can go out and do things," she told AFP.

"People have a tendency to look at acid attack survivors from one perspective and I don't want them to look at them like that anymore," she said.

Backstage she was embraced by a fellow model and then lent over the balcony watching part of the rest of the show which featured evening and daywear for men and women by a handful of different designers.

As much as the audience of stylists, bloggers and members of the Indian diaspora whooped and cheered, Qureshi had come across on the eve of the show as rather overwhelmed and understandably jet lagged.

The daughter of a taxi driver and abroad for the first time, she was accompanied by a representative of the charity she works with, but flung into the bulb-popping, high-octane world of Manhattan fashion.

She answered questions politely, saying that New York seemed "very nice" even though she had barely slept on the long, transcontinental flight and had no time to even see the skyline.

But with her New York debut under her belt, she was much happier. She will walk in a second show Thursday before heading out to dinner and is keen to see as much as possible of the Big Apple.

"I do feel brave," she said.</s>Reshma Qureshi, brushed off nerves to stride the runway like a pro in a stunning cream and floral floor-length gown by Indian designer Archana Kochhar.

A 18-year-old Indian acid attack victim, who lost an eye and whose face was brutally disfigured in the attack, walked the New York catwalk to whoops and cheers in what she called a life-changing experience.

Reshma Qureshi, 19, brushed off nerves to stride the runway like a pro in a stunning cream and floral floor-length gown by Indian designer Archana Kochhar on the first official day of New York Fashion Week.

“I feel really good and the experience was great,” she told AFP afterward. “I feel as though it has definitely changed my life.”

She was invited to take part by FTL Moda, a fashion production company committed to challenging industry stereotypes of beauty and which last year invited a model with Down Syndrome to take part.

Ms. Qureshi, whose ambition remains to finish the last two grades of high school and go to college, said she hoped her participation would send a powerful message to other acid attack survivors.

“Why should we not enjoy our lives? What happened to us is not our fault and we’ve done nothing wrong and so we should also move forward in life,” she said the night before the show.

Acid attacks, which overwhelmingly target women and children, are a particular scourge in Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the West Indies and the Middle East.

In India, an estimated 500 to 1,000 attacks take place each year, and while they rarely kill they leave severe physical, psychological and social scars that can see victims ostracized and hidden away.

The fashion show came the same day an Indian court sentenced a man to death for murdering a 24-year-old woman by throwing acid on her face after she rejected his offer of marriage, in a landmark judgement.

Ms. Qureshi was attacked by her brother-in-law in 2004, pinned down by his friends and her face doused in acid. She has become the face of a campaign to end the open sale of acid in India.

“I want to tell the world — do not see us in a weak light and see that even we can go out and do things,” she told said.

“People have a tendency to look at acid attack survivors from one perspective and I don’t want them to look at them like that anymore,” she said.

Backstage she was embraced by a fellow model and then lent over the balcony watching part of the rest of the show which featured evening and daywear for men and women by a handful of different designers.</s>Ankur Panwar was convicted for throwing acid on Preeti as she apparently refused his proposal to marry him.

A special women’s court on Wednesday awarded death sentence to Ankur Panwar for throwing acid on Preeti Rathi at Bandra station on May 2, 2013.

The court on Tuesday convicted Panwar, who was 23 years old when he committed the crime, with the intention of causing burns and committing murder.

At the City Civil and Sessions Court, judge Anju Shende convicted Mr Panwar, a chef who was working with a premium hotel and was the breadwinner of a family of five under section 302 (punishment for murder) and 326 B (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid) of the Indian Penal Code.

Panwar’s family said they will move High Court in appeal against his conviction and will also plead for the case to be shifted to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam sought death penalty as he said the tendency of the accused may cost the lives of many other girls

Preeti had secured a nursing job at the INHS Asvini Hospital and had just reached Mumbai from New Delhi when acid was thrown at her. She died due to burns and injuries a month later.

Panwar, currently lodged at the Arthur Road Jail, lived near Preeti’s neighbourhood in Narela, Delhi. He has been convicted for throwing acid on Preeti and her family members as she apparently refused his proposal to marry him.

Defence lawyer Apeksha Vora said Preeti died due to medical negligence. She said her client had been falsely implicated because he was arrested seven months after the incident took place.

However, the prosecution contended that Panwar was guilty as Preeti had declined his proposal for marriage.

The trial lasted for one-and-a-half years during which time the prosecution examined 37 witnesses, including five eyewitnesses and 11 doctors.</s>The National selectors will meet in Mumbai on September 12 to pick the Indian team for the first Test against New Zealand starting at the Green Park in Kanpur on September 22.

Selectors Vikram Rathour and Saba Karim will watch the first two days of the Duleep Trophy final at Greater Noida along with India chief coach Anil Kumble before joining chairman of the selection panel Sandeep Patil in Mumbai.

Gagan Khoda and MSK Prasad, the other members of the selection meeting, are likely to hook in through video conference from Australia where they are travelling with the India-A team.
A court in the Indian city of Mumbai convicts and sentences Ankur Panwar to the death penalty for a fatal acid-throwing attack.