Acid flung on housewife's face outside Poona Club

PUNE: In a dastardly act, an unidentified man threw acid on 22-year-old Jyoti Lalwani and her four-month-old child Rahul, just as they emerged from the Poona Club at 10.30 pm on Thursday. While the woman sustained serious injury in her right eye, her baby''s leg and her husband Vijay''s (24) face were also affected by the acid.
Despite the injury, Vijay chased the assailant and managed to grab his collar before tripping and falling over.The defiant attacker escaped on a waiting motorcyle even as he and the accomplice riding the motorcycle threatened Lalwani with "dire consequences". "There was a large crowd around, but nobody came to my help," a distraught Vijay told TNN on Friday.
Jyoti Lalwani, a resident of Lullanagar said the attack happened in the car park outside the Club, where she had been attending a function hosted by a newspaper.
Just as she got into her car and was about to close the door, a man appeared and said "Excuse me" before throwing acid on her face twice. Some of it fell on Rahul and Vijay.
"The right half of my face is affected, and I don''t know if I''ll be able to see with my right eye again. My son''s face was saved, because I had instinctively raised my hand and dupatta to shield against the attack.
Struggling to hold back her tears, Lalwani said, "Neither me, nor my husband, who is an industrial goods supplier, have any enemies. I was also reluctant to come to this function. It was for the first time after Rahul''s birth that I went out after much persuasion and this happened."
Sub-inspector Datta Chavan, who is investigating the case, said, the police had created an image of the attacker based on the description provided by Vijay. "Lalwani also gave us a vehicle number and other leads ," Chavan added.