BOGOTA: The Colombian government plans to regulate the sale of acids following a spate of recent attacks that have shocked the South American country.
"We have to analyze how to control the sale of such substances so that citizens aren't exposed to irrational and reckless individuals," Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said in a statement.
Early this month, a 23-year-old woman was hit in the face during an acid attack. On Sunday, another woman was admitted to a hospital in Bogota with burns to the neck, back, buttocks and legs.
Also Sunday, suspects in yet another attack -- captured on a surveillance camera -- were detained and face up to 18 years in prison if convicted.
President Juan Manuel Santos has denounced the attacks -- which have seriously burned and disfigured victims -- as "a truly atrocious and deplorable crime."
Raising the penalties for such offenses is also on the table.
"We are going to prosecute the perpetrators but what's most important is that they don't have the chance to do it again," Pinzon said.
Since 2004, Colombian authorities have recorded more than a thousand acid attacks according to the medical examiner's office.
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