Ahilyanagar police issue sketch of man involved in acid attack on girl

Nashik: The Ahilyanagar police on Friday released a sketch of the man, aged 32-35, accused of hurling an acid-like substance on a 13-year-old girl on Tuesday afternoon.According to the police, the motorcycle-borne accused approached the girl, who was returning home from school, on the pretext of enquiring about an address and threw the acid-like substance on her face before fleeing. The girl suffered facial injuries and was admitted to Pravara Medical Trust Hospital in Loni, where she is being treated by a team of general physicians, plastic surgeons and ophthalmologists. Her condition is reported to be stable.The police said teams from technical analysis, forensics, the detection branch, as well as the Sangamner city and taluka police stations, are jointly investigating the case. "Based on witness descriptions, investigators have prepared and published a sketch of the suspect. We urge citizens to share any information they may have about the man, assuring that informants' identities will be kept confidential. Information can be reported to the Sangamner Taluka police station," an officer said.Dr Suresh Jagdale, medical superintendent of the Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil Pravara Rural Hospital, said the girl was responding positively to treatment. Considering the seriousness of the incident, Pravara Deemed University chancellor Dr Rajendra Vikhe Patil and trustee Dhruv Vikhe Patil made an emergency visit to the hospital and issued special instructions regarding her care. A medical team led by Dr Gokul Jorvekar, plastic surgeon Dr Prashant Mun and Dr Anand Dugad successfully performed the initial plastic surgery on her.The girl's maternal uncle said her father had passed away four years ago due to a brain-related illness. "Since then, the girl, her mother and her sibling have been living with me. Her father worked at small construction sites," the uncle said, adding that the school was 4km away from their home. "Earlier, I used to drop her on my bike. Last year, I bought her a bicycle, and she had just started cycling to school this year. I never imagined something like this could happen," he added.Dr Jagdale said the hospital would bear all the cost of the girl's treatment and she would be kept in hospital for about a month more as she will have to go a couple of surgeries. The hospital has so far performed burn debridement and collagen dressing on the girl, who suffered 6% burn injuries to her face and she is also being counselled by psychiatrists.