It makes total sense... from a certain point of view. Guns are obtainable in England, but cost prohibitive. So all it takes is one crazy to go out of his way and use whatever he has on hand to destroy someone's life. That just happens to be acid.
After that it's an arms war, or the age of acid warfare.
Of course there are also Asian societies where they feel people need to be shamed for their entire lives. Which is whatever to me. I guess going back to the roots of such cultures, the family dynamic was the most important aspect of life.