Iranian to be blinded with acid for doing same to woman

Wow.

I guess they really DO believe in "an eye for an eye."

And the fact that it was a woman whose rights are being upheld is quite stunning.





Now, I want to state that I in no way agree with a LITERAL application of "an eye for an eye." But I do believe in "let the punishment fit the crime."

Hmmm, interesting. I wonder if it will actually deter violent crime. The man admitted it, so okay, fine. But is the punishment the same if the man denied it, and was found guilty in court? Would suck if he were actually innocent.

Plot Device said:

And the fact that it was a woman whose rights are being upheld is quite stunning.

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It's a nice thought, but I somehow doubt the woman's rights are an issue for them. This is likely more about punishing the criminal than her rights. After this case she'll go right back to being a dish-washing sex object like every other woman in Iran.

Captshady said:

Hmmm, interesting. I wonder if it will actually deter violent crime...

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Punishment does deter crime. The problem is it is impossible to quantify how much.

I believe the answer to this question can be found within all of us.

Why do we do or not do certain things. Many times, we follow the law because to not do so would lead to a negative consequence that we do not want. Hence, deterence.

Speeding may be a good example. The majority of people do not speed because they do not want the negative consequence of speeding (a ticket).

There is are small towns in Texas and Colorado that pay for their entire budget with speeding tickets. These towns are well known, and if you are caught speeding more than 15mph over the limit, you spend a day in jail and have to pay heavy monetary fines (not too much mention court fees, processing fees, etc).

Guess what. Almost everyone in that region (who knows of the town) does not speed through it. Furthermore, most of us actually go a little below the limit just to make sure.

Of course, you will always have 'some' who feel they can speed without getting caught, but you have a lot less of those because the penalty is too high.

*sigh*

Anyways, my long-winded way of saying yes,I think it will be a deterent.

Mel...

I'd rather die than be blinded by agonizing acid.

So, yeah, this would work for me as a deterrent.

Except I'd never THROW ACID IN A WOMAN'S FACE!

Therefor, I don't really think I can understand the mentality of this crime at all.

But I can say...

BURRRRRRRRRRRRRRN!

I wonder if he thought that he was being productive in some kind of way, like that he was 'teaching her a lesson'.
Maybe this time, instead of him 'teaching her a lesson', he will be the one who is more aware of personal faults, and subsequently, his own lack of 'power'.

Too bad he can't just get locked up for ever and ever. Either way, a little civil justice goes a long way, e.g. the American Civil Rights movement.

...observe in this your own fate Iranian leaders if you persist in oppressing your citizenry and blinding them with your hate-mongering propoganda and self-serving edicts.

Darn. Sucks to be him. Guess he should have thought of that sooner, huh.

Hope it hurts like hell.

He did it because he loved her, damn it.

RobJ said:

He did it because he loved her, damn it.

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But he's sorry. And we all know, as long as you're 'sorry', its o.k.

Besides, "It won't bring her eyes back..." right?

I love that argument, not quite sure people who spout it really knows what it means, but it is just so righteous to say.

Mel...

Attacking women and girls by throwing acid in their faces is sufficiently common in countries such as Bangladesh and Cambodia that groups have been formed to fight it. Human rights organizations have condemned the practice in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is not clear how often such attacks take place in Iran.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are the only countries that consider eye-gouging to be a legitimate judicial punishment, Human Rights Watch has said.


Wow, that was hard to read. I think it says something also about arranged marriages (they were supposed to be married).

dgiharris said:

But he's sorry. And we all know, as long as you're 'sorry', its o.k.

Besides, "It won't bring her eyes back..." right?

I love that argument, not quite sure people who spout it really knows what it means, but it is just so righteous to say.

Mel...

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But it's a very easy argument to counter. Simply say:

"well not doing it won't bring them back either."

Three boys were shot dead by the police in India last week. One of them had attacked a college girl with acid for breaking up with him and the other two had helped him.

"Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one." ~freddy

Such a weird world.

This acid throwing business is going to cause me to have nightmares. I already have occasional bouts of insomnia.

Where's the acid's antidote? I'll start carrying some in my pocket... Geez!

Fraulein said:

Where's the acid's antidote? I'll start carrying some in my pocket... Geez!

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Concentrated acids don't have "antidotes", in the way that poisons may have. They damage almost immediately, and only very quick topical treatment can alleviate their effects. I haven't heard what acid was used in this case, although there are three likely materials: sulfuric, nitric or hydrochloric acids. All widely used for industrial processes and easily obtainable in concentrated form. And all very nasty.

There's even a worse one: hydrofluoric acid (HF), which can be deadly, even in small quantities splashed on a person's body. But HF is harder to obtain, and really difficult to handle safely (it eats glass), so its use is unlikely.

caw

blacbird said:

Concentrated acids don't have "antidotes", in the way that poisons may have. They damage almost immediately, and only very quick topical treatment can alleviate their effects. I haven't heard what acid was used in this case, although there are three likely materials: sulfuric, nitric or hydrochloric acids. All widely used for industrial processes and easily obtainable in concentrated form. And all very nasty.

There's even a worse one: hydrofluoric acid (HF), which can be deadly, even in small quantities splashed on a person's body. But HF is harder to obtain, and really difficult to handle safely (it eats glass), so its use is unlikely.

caw

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Oh. I was sort of teasing. An instant eyewash would probably be the only thing that might get rid of it and neutralize it on the spot. It would need to get flushed out ASAP.

Those can be very harmful acids if they're concentrated enough.

A basic antidote would have the risk of producing harm in the opposite way, even though it would technically neutralize the acid.

It's sad... this kind of crap makes me want to carry a gun (to kill the SOB right as he was throwing the acid in my face). As if my level of paranoia wasn't high enough already!

Fraulein said:

This acid throwing business is going to cause me to have nightmares. I already have occasional bouts of insomnia.

Where's the acid's antidote? I'll start carrying some in my pocket... Geez!

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A good "antidote" would be a space suit, but you can't keep it in your pocket, you have to be wearing it when the acid is splashed on you.

With a concentrated acid, there is no real protection or countermeasure. It's kind of analogous to me melting some steel, putting it in a small crucible and throwing it in your face while its still white hot. There's not much you could do to keep that steel from disfiguring you.

I also agree that I'm glad no one has gotten any hydroflouric acid. It's honestly easier to store than sulfuric(you use simple polyethylene to store), but it's about 100x nastier. It doesn't really cause acid burns like you see on these poor folks, but what it does is pass through your skin, and break down your bones. It'll also destroy any calcium in your blood stream and can cause cardiac arrest after a few minutes. This stuff is literally the crap nightmares are made out of.

There's an image I have in my head that I literally cannot shake. It's this: the night before the sentence is to be carried out, the guy sits in his cell and thinks "tomorrow morning, right about dawn, they're going to come in here, strap me in a chair, pry my lids open, and then burn my eyes out of my skull with acid." Disregarding the justness of the sentence (with which I concur), isn't the picture of that guy's final night of sight the creepiest thing? What would you do in those final few hours? Try to commit to memory every single thing in your cell, including the cockroaches? What a thought...

Gravity said:

There's an image I have in my head that I literally cannot shake. It's this: the night before the sentence is to be carried out, the guy sits in his cell and thinks "tomorrow morning, right about dawn, they're going to come in here, strap me in a chair, pry my lids open, and then burn my eyes out of my skull with acid." Disregarding the justness of the sentence (with which I concur), isn't the picture of that guy's final night of sight the creepiest thing? What would you do in those final few hours? Try to commit to memory every single thing in your cell, including the cockroaches? What a thought...

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Wow, you are right. I believe this is why we have the Eighth Amendment, prohibiting "cruel and unusual" punishment. Although, come to think of it, I suppose you could ask the same question of the man on death row in Texas who is to be executed the following day.

I hope they have someone keeping an eye on this guy so he doesn't commit suicide afterward. He should have to live like she lives.

MarkEsq said:

Although, come to think of it, I suppose you could ask the same question of the man on death row in Texas who is to be executed the following day.

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True, Mark, but with death there's an ending (at least for those of the athiestic persuasion; for others of us, death is simply the start of something new). But for this guy...man. Blinding him with acid probably won't take long (given the fragility of the human eye). So as they fasten him down, he may well think, "in five minutes I'll be screaming and writhing in agony, part of which is the pain of knowing I'll be blind for life." I dunno. Maybe this will give some other nutball pause...