Cousin stalks woman, throws acid on her in Gurugram

The neighbours caught the suspect while he tried to flee the spot and handed him over to the police, said officers investigating the matter

A 21-year-old executive working in an e-commerce company suffered serious burn injuries on Wednesday after her cousin allegedly threw acid on her for refusing to marry him.

Police said the suspect initially claimed to be the woman’s husband, a statement the woman later refuted. She said he was her cousin and already married. (Representational image)

The incident took place in Farrukhnagar outside the woman’s paying guest (PG) accommodation while she was talking to her mother on her mobile phone.

The neighbours caught the suspect while he tried to flee the spot and handed him over to the police, said officers investigating the matter.

Devender Singh, station house officer of Farrukhnagar police station, said that they received information around 8.30pm that a man had thrown acid on a woman and locals had caught him. “The woman was admitted to a private hospital. Doctors said that she has lost vision in both eyes. She suffered burn injuries in her eyes, face, neck, hands, and stomach,” he said. Her condition is stable, doctors at the hospital said.

Police said the suspect initially claimed to be the woman’s husband, a statement the woman later refuted. She said he was her cousin and already married.

The suspect, Ravinder Singh alias Ravi, from Hisar, works at a private company in Farrukhnagar and claimed he had been trying to “meet his wife” for over a month. “We informed her family members of the incident. They reached the hospital late Wednesday night,” he said.

The woman, in her statement to the police at the hospital, said that Ravi had smeared her forehead with vermillion at a temple a few months ago and, since then, kept pressuring her to get married to him. She had refused him several times, she said. “He was holding a grudge against me for turning down his marriage proposal. On Wednesday, he came to my PG accommodation, caught hold of my hair and threw acid on my face. I shouted for help, after which my colleagues rushed towards me and caught him,” she said.

Singh said that Ravi had been following the woman for the last few days and was keeping a close watch on her activities. “He tried to flee the spot but was caught. The woman raised an alarm and started crying in pain and sought help from people. Her friends then rushed out and saw her,” he said.

One of the eyewitnesses, Khushi (who goes by her first name), said that she was walking nearby when she witnessed the incident. “Within minutes, she was vomiting and shouting in pain. She could not even see anything,” she said.

The woman is from Jind in Haryana and works at an e-commerce company in Farrukhnagar.

The police said that the woman had been trying to avoid him and had asked him not to call or meet her but he had disregarded her requests.

A case of voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid against Ravi was registered under Section 326A of the India Penal Code at Farrukhnagar police station.

Ravi will be produced before the court on Friday, said police.