Court finds firm liable for employee’s acid attack

Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court has ordered a local company to pay 150,000 yuan ($24,024) in compensation after one of its employees attacked his wife with sulfuric acid that he obtained from work, the court said Wednesday.

The court ruled that the defendant, an unidentified building materials company, didn't adequately supervise the dangerous chemical and was thus liable for 30 percent of total 510,000 yuan in compensation owed to the victim, according to a court press release.

The court determined that the victim's husband was liable for the remaining 360,000 yuan.

The husband, who was not identified, obtained the sulfuric acid from the company on the pretext that he wanted to clean some of the metal parts on his motorcycle, according to the press release. The court said the 34-year-old Hubei Province native had grown suspicious that his wife, also unidentified, was having an affair. After the couple discussed getting a divorce, the husband became angry and threw the bottle of acid at his wife.

The 36-year-old woman suffered burns on more than 20 percent of her face and 12 percent of her body, according to the press release. The court decided the amount based on her medical expenses, nursing fees, missed salary and emotional distress.

In a previous ruling, the court sentenced the husband to 13 years and six months in prison for the assault on his wife.