Deepika Padukone conducts sting operation on acid sale

Actor Deepika Padukone has shared a new video over the rampant sale of acid in India after conducting a ‘social experiment’ with the team of her film Chhapaak.

Deepika conducted a sting operation to check how easily shopkeepers sell acid without requiring a proof of identity from the buyer.

“If someone proposes to you and you say no, raise your voice when someone harasses you, or if you fight for your rights…and someone throws acid on your face,” Deepika says in the video.

She said the biggest reason why acid is thrown on people is acid itself, adding that acid wouldn’t be thrown if it was not easily available.

Deepika conducts the experiment in which she sits in a car with two cameramen and other team members while multiple actors hit multiple shops in Mumbai to buy acid.

Someone plays a plumber, another a businessman, a student, a drunkard, a housewife and a street goon. They hit local grocery and hardware stores, asking for acid, while Deepika watches the interaction from her car.

READ MORE: ‘Chhapaak’ director hopes film will raise awareness about acid attacks

Many actors insisted with the shopkeepers that they want the strongest acid ‘which can burn somebody’s skin’. Most shopkeepers didn’t inquire much about the buyer’s intention. A couple of shopkeepers also asked if the buyers intended to throw it at someone’s face but that didn’t prevent them from making the sale.

At the end of the video, Deepika reveals that her team managed to buy 24 bottles of acid in just a day despite strict regulations on the sale of acid.

Real life acid attack survivors then explain those rules — the buyer must be more than 18 year old, present an ID proof, and address proof and the seller must have a licence to sell acid and must report the sale to the police.

“I think not just shopkeepers, but it’s also our responsibility that if we ever see anyone illegally buy or sell acid, we should immediately inform the police,” Deepika said.

Deepika plays the lead in Chhapaak based on the story of real-life acid attack survivor Laxmi Aggarwal. The film directed by Meghna Gulzar released on January 10.