Two bike-borne youths carried out an acid attack on a 17-year-old schoolgirl in Dwarka in Delhi on Wednesday.
According to the police, the Class XII student was attacked at Verma Chowk, Rama Park (area of Police Station Mohan Garden), when she was on her way to the school, along with her sisters, on Tuesday morning.
Footage retrieved from a CCTV camera installed at the crime spot shows a pillion rider throwing acid at the girl. The minor girl has suffered 7 per cent to 8 per cent facial burns and her eyes have also been affected.
The police have arrested three people Sachin Arora, 20, Harshit Aggarwal, alias Honey, 19, and Virender Singh, alias Sonu, 22.
Sonu works as a generator mechanic, said the police, adding that they procured the acid from e-commerce platform Flipkart.
Special Commissioner of Police Sagar Preet Hooda at a Press conference said accused Sachin was known to the victim and they were on friendly terms till September 2022. They fell out after September after which the accused planned the attack.
“Harshit was driving the motorcycle at the time of incident. In the morning, Virender took the scooty and mobile of Sachin to another location so as to create an alibi and mislead the investigation,” Hooda said.
At about 8.45 am, the police received a call from DDU Hospital under Dwarka district regarding the acid attack.
“Immediately (after the call from DDU Hospital) the police teams rushed to the hospital,” said Hooda.
The girl was later shifted to another hospital where she is under treatment. Waiting outside the burns ward, her father told reporters that her sister was with her at the time.
“My daughter left home at 7.30 am. As soon as she crossed the street, she was attacked. The incident happened within six to seven minutes of her leaving the house,” he said.
Asked whether she was being harassed or stalked, he said she had made no such complaint.
FIR No. 670/22 was registered under Section 326A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid, etc.)/34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Mohan Garden police station, Hooda said.
Following the incident, women’s groups and others, including Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, raised questions on the availability of acid in markets despite a ban.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked how the accused could have gathered so much courage.
After the incident, National Commission for Women (NCW) and Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) have taken cognizance of the incident and issued notices to the Delhi Police.
“Police teams responded swiftly, and multiple teams of Operations unit, Dwarka district and PS Mohan Garden were constituted under the leadership of DCP/Dwarka M Harsha Vardhan, to identify and nab the accused persons. Based on information developed from witnesses and local sources, accused persons were identified and arrested within 12 hours of the incident,” Hooda said.
The victim’s father said they don’t know who these attackers were.
According to a doctor at Safdarjung Hospital, the girl has suffered seven to eight per cent facial burns and her eyes have also been affected. She has been admitted to the burn ICU and is stable. The schoolgirl was initially admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital and later referred to Safdarjung Hospital.
