A law designed to punish the perpetrators of acid attacks and regulate the use of acid in the Kingdom is expected to be signed by the King within the month, officials said yesterday.

Ouk Kimlek, under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, said senate members approved the acid law on January 3 without changes and no acid cases were reported for the last three months of 2011, which he attributed to  awareness of the acid law’s introduction.  

The draft law states that “intentional killing” with acid is punishable by 15 to 30 years in prison.

It also states that “torture and cruel acts” using acid are punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.

The number of acid attacks in 2011 recorded by the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity  dropped by nearly half compared to the year before, from 19 to 10.