The International Women's Day was celebrated with the universal demand to end violence against women and ensure a torture free society for them. Throwing acid on women is one of the most horrific form of violence practised against them in our society. One feels disgusted to find that Pakistan has no specific law to award exemplary punishment to the acid-throwing villains. According to a news item 149 people were affected with this crime only in the Seraiki belt since 2007. Counting on the national level the figure may rise above a thousand. The acid-throwing cases occur almost every day disfiguring women and ruining their lives. The perpetrators of such a heinous crime, though, are let off lightly with one or two years imprisonment and a very meagre amount in fine as per the existing laws. The incidence of this crime in Pakistan will not come down unless deterrent punishments are awarded. In a case of this nature in Iran, a woman named Ameneh Bahrami was disfigured and blinded by a man who threw acid in her face because she had rejected his marriage proposal. The Iranian court that heard the case ruled that the man should also be blinded with acid in accordance with the Islamic law of retribution calling for 'an eye for an eye'. Iran's Supreme Court also confirmed the sentence. If we have similar laws in Pakistan, I am sure, this crime will come down dramatically. -NAVIN AHMED, Lahore, March 12.