The Delhi police on Thursday issued a notice to Flipkart after it was found the acid thrown on the 17-year-old girl in west Delhi was purchased from the e-commerce site while the victim's family said doctors at Safdarjung Hospital have assured them that her vision has not been affected.
The Delhi Commission for Women also issued notices to Amazon and Flipkart for allegedly allowing the sale of acid on their platform and called it a matter of grave concern. However, when PTI searched on the two platforms, using keywords like 'nitric acid' and 'acid' no results were found.
Later in the day, Flipkart condemned the attack and said it has blacklisted the seller from its platform and is extending all support to the probe agencies.
In its notice, the police sought details of the order placed by prime accused Sachin Arora who planned the attack to exact revenge.
The girl, who is currently in the Burns ICU of Safdarjung Hospital, is "conscious, well-oriented and afebrile", a senior doctor said.
"She has suffered eight per cent chemical burns on the face. Eyes have also been affected. Treatment is on. Ophthalmologists are also providing conservative and supportive treatment," the doctor said.
The victim's family said doctors have assured them that her facial burns will heal, even though it might take some time, and her vision seems to have not been affected.
Two bike-borne, masked men flung acid on the girl on Wednesday, minutes after she left her west Delhi residence for school, leaving her with serious injuries. Police have arrested three men, including a neighbour of the victim, in connection with the incident.
Besides Arora, his two friends Harshit Aggarwal (19) and Virender Singh (22) were arrested, police said.
During interrogation, it was learnt that Arora and the victim were friends till September.
They fell out and this led the accused to attack her, special commissioner of police, law and order, Sagar Preet Hooda said, adding that he lived in the girl's neighbourhood.
Sources claimed that Arora searched several websites to procure acid and found it on Flipkart.
He placed the order at an address farther from his home so that the order could not easily be traced to him, they added.
In a statement, Flipkart said, "We strongly condemn this unfortunate incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim and her family. The Flipkart marketplace platform closely monitors and delists products that violate expected standards.
"Strict action is taken against sellers who are found to be engaged in selling products that are illegal, unsafe, and prohibited. The seller concerned has been blacklisted and we are extending all support to the concerned authorities in their investigation," it said.
The DCW, which issued notices to two e-commerce platforms said it has learnt that acid is easily available on leading online shopping platforms such as 'Amazon' and 'Flipkart' which is illegal.
"The ease of availability of acid on online platforms is a matter of grave concern and needs to be checked urgently," it said.
The Supreme Court had in 2013 banned over-the-counter sale of acid at retail outlets following an increase in the number of acid attacks and ordered a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to be paid by state governments to each acid attack victim.
As outrage spread over the attack, the easy availability of acid was also raised in the Lok Sabha by Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahtab who demanded a "complete ban" on the retail and online sale of such chemicals.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Mahtab also demanded that the Centre bring in provisions of putting the offenders in jail to deal with the cases of violations of the law pertaining to the sale and purchase of acid
"How is acid being made available in retail shops or online despite the Supreme Court's order of 2013? Secondly, why are acid attack victims not being provided the money meant for them? Why do they have to run from pillar to post?" he asked.
He said the government of Bangladesh has come up with "a very strict law" in this regard. "So why can we not frame a law? I have submitted a private members' bill also for the consideration of this House," the BJD leader said while urging the government to respond to "these types of issues".
