It is reported that an estimated 100 people per year are attacked with acid in Colombia. Unfortunately, only a handful of suspects have been convicted.

Now, the Colombian Senate has imposed a law that will implement harsher sentences on those who have committed acid attacks, BBC reports. The law was named after Natalia Ponce, an acid attack victim.

The businesswoman from Bogota was attacked on March 25, 2014 by a stalker who doused her with a litre of pure sulphuric acid, which melted away her clothes and her skin. Ponce said she only met her attacker twice, but that he had become so obsessed with her that he spent months meticulously planning the attack, The Daily Mail reports.

Ponce's attacker has been identified as Jonathan Vega, a man Ponce says she has never spoken to. Her attacker fled the scene once he doused her face with the burning acid and she was left screaming in the hotel lobby.

BBC reports that under the new law, those perpetrators who "use any type of chemical agent" to physically harm someone will be given a prison sentence from 12 and 20 years. This sentence can increase for up to 50 years for those perpetrators who permanently disfigure their victim.

Acid attacks, it was reported, fall under the category of physical violence, such as beatings. Sentences for these crimes are shorter in comparison.

Ponce has never shown her face in public since the acid attack. She has taken to wearing a plastic mask due to the severity of her injuries. She continues to be a chief advocate for victims of acid attacks and campaigns for the rights of acid attack victims.

The 35-year old said that the attack has changed her life. She can no longer go back to her clothing business. Even going out to dinner out or going to see a movie can be a very uncomfortable experience, since her appearance generates many stares and side glances, which made her uncomfortable.

Ponce added that she thanked the legislature for pushing the law. Vega had been arrested for his crime. However, his trial is currently on delay since he refuses to undergo a psychiatric exam.

Ponce said that the number of acid attacks in Colombia is relatively higher than those in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The majority of the victims of these attacks are reportedly female.

President Juan Manuel Santos, has already expressed his support for the new law and it will come into force as soon as he signs it.