GHAZIABAD: A 21-year-old woman lost her eyes and suffered 80% burns when acid was thrown at her by a person — who is yet to be identified — while she was asleep in her house in
Kaila Bhatta
village around 2am on Tuesday.
The woman was attacked while she was sleeping in the verandah of her house next to her sister. Much of her face, including her eyes, midriff, arms and neck were completely burnt, according to Muhammad Arif Qureshi (20), her cousin. The acid was so corrosive that her clothes started coming off her body like wax. The mattress, pillow and quilt were also corroded.
The woman’s family members said the attack was meticulously planned as the main wire supplying electricity to the house was severed by the assailant who probably wanted ensure timely help could not be provided to the woman. A bottle containing the corrosive liquid was later found at the spot.
The 21-year-old was taken to MMG Hospital in Ghaziabad and later referred to Safdarjung hospital in Delhi, where she is in the ICU in a critical condition. According to the hospital statement, nothing can be said about the survivor’s condition for 24 hours. Her face, especially her eyes and her pupils, is almost completely damaged and she is unconscious. She also vomited black fluid once in the morning.
“We were asleep when we heard her screams around 2am. When we rushed to her we saw her writhing and screaming in pain and the clothes on her body and the mattress and the quilt were emanating smoke. When we checked the lock of the house, it was untouched,” said Qureshi.
Family members said the attacker must have sneaked into their house after scaling the wall of an under-construction house, located behind their house with the boundary abutting the terrace. “The attacker must have climbed through the boundary wall of the semi-constructed house, reached our terrace and come down the stairs to carry out the attack,” said Jameel Ahmed, the survivor’s uncle.
The attacked woman’s marriage is on the cards, her family said. A date has been set four months later. The groom is from Khurja in Bulandshahr.
Footage recovered from a CCTV camera installed outside a nearby temple showed three men with their faces covered riding a TVS Apache bike in the area.
The family members did not have any suspect in mind. When asked if she might have had an affair that could have led to the attack, Qureshi said, “No, we have no knowledge of anything like this. Our sister did not have any such problems and we cannot think of anyone who could possibly do this.” However, the family members said that from the way the ghastly crime had been executed, it was evident the culprit knew everything about their family.
Sanjay Singh, sub-inspector at Kotwali police station, said, “We are waiting for information from the doctor to record the victim’s statement but nothing can be said as of now. We are trying to gather clues about the number of people involved in this attack.”
An FIR under Section 326A (
acid attack) of the IPC has been registered against an unknown person at the Kotwali police station.