Man throws ‘acid-like substance’ at 22-year-old’s face, arrested

New Delhi

A 22-year-old woman sustained burns after her estranged husband allegedly threw acid-like substance on her on Sunday night in east Delhi’s New Ashok Nagar. Police said the man, who had been living separately in Madhya Pradesh’s Chitrakoot, was arrested from the spot.

According to the police, the man and the woman, who are neighbours in their native village in Chitrakoot, got married to each other six years ago. The couple had then moved to Delhi where the woman delivered a boy, who is four-year-old now.

Police said, as per the woman’s complaint, she had started working at a private firm in Delhi and her husband had decided to go back to their village in Madhya Pradesh last year. “When she disapproved of his decision, he took their son and went to his village. She said soon after her husband returned home, the Covid pandemic broke out, following which a nationwide lockdown was imposed because of which she could not travel to her in-law’s house in Chitrakoot. She said after the lockdown, when she visited them, they did not allow her in and asked her to return to Delhi,” said a senior police officer, who wished not to be named.

The officer said, after staying at her parent’s house in the same village for a few weeks, the woman returned to her east Delhi house. “On Sunday, her husband called her and told her that he is in Delhi and wants to see her. The woman asked him to come meet him at her home. Around 9pm, the man turned up with some chemical in his hand and as soon as the woman opened the door, he threw the acid-like chemical on her face. The woman immediately cried for help, alerting the neighbours, who rushed to help. The matter was reported to the police and she was taken to a hospital where her condition is said to be stable,” the officer said.

Deputy commissioner of police (east) Deepak Yadav said the husband was arrested from the spot and has been booked under IPC section 326A for the acid attack.

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