A day after an acid attack on a 17-year-old girl in Delhi, e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon have been served notices over the sale of the chemical on their platforms. The notices, sent by the Delhi Commission for Women, came after it was revealed that the accused identified for the ghastly attack on the school girl had purchased acid from Flipkart.
“DCW has learnt that accused bought acid through ‘Flipkart’ & that acid is easily available on ‘Amazon’ & ‘Flipkart’ which is illegal,” the notice reads, seeking details on the sale and availability of acid on their platforms.
A Class 12 girl had acid thrown on her by two bike-borne men in Dwarka area of west Delhi at around 7.30 AM on Wednesday minutes after she left home for school. The girl was with her younger sister when the incident took place at Mohan Garden near Uttam Nagar. The incident was caught on a CCTV camera.
The police later identified three accused in the case, including the victim’s neighbour, who is believed to have admitted to purchasing acid through an online platform. The three accused were apprehended by the police by Wednesday evening and further investigation is underway.
In its letter to the e-commerce platforms, the DCW has noted that the “easy availability of acid on online platforms” is a matter of grave concern and needs to be checked.
In its notices, the DCW has sought information from Flipkart and Amazon on the reasons behind the sale of acid on their platforms as well as complete details of sellers who have placed ‘acid’ as a product on the platforms and whether the licenses of such sellers were checked before posting the product on the platforms.
The DCW notice has also asked Amazon and Flipkart to specify if photo ids of those purchasing acid online were sought and sought a list of all such buyers.
The Commission has also asked the e-commerce platforms to specify the steps it has taken to remove restricted items including acid from their platforms.
“Please provide details of persons responsible for allowing the sale of acid on the portal along with details of action taken against them,” the notice reads.
Amazon and Flipkart have been asked to provide the information sought by the Commission latest by December 20 considering the gravity of the matter.