Following the notices issued by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) and the city police in connection with the alleged sale of acid on its platform, e-commerce giant Flipkart on Thursday said that it has blacklisted the seller concerned and that the company is extending all support to the authorities in their investigation into the acid attack in the capital. Flipkart also said that it “closely monitors” and “delists products” that are found violating the expected standards.
"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,” it said in a statement.
“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 further said.
Earlier in the day, the women's panel and the Delhi Police had issued notices to Flipkart after it was found that the acid thrown on the 17-year-old girl in west Delhi was purchased from the e-commerce site.
The victim has been admitted to the Burns ICU of Safdarjung Hospital where doctors said she has suffered eight per cent chemical burns on the face and that her eyes have also been affected. They, however, assured that her vision has not been affected, the victim's family said on Thursday.
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. Three men—Sachin Arora, Harshit Aggarwal and Virender Singh—have been arrested.
Reports said both Arora and the girl were neighbours and friends. He decided to attack her after they fell out in September.
According to a PTI report, 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, the news agency said.
The DCW, in its notice to both Flipkart and Amazon, had noted that the ease of availability of acid on online platforms was a matter of grave concern and needed to be checked urgently.
