15-year-old ‘forced’ to drink acid, critical

NEW DELHI: A 15-year-old girl was on Wednesday admitted to Safdarjung hospital in a critical condition after being forced to consume a ‘corrosive substance’ by two

NEW DELHI: A 15-year-old girl was on Wednesday admitted to Safdarjung hospital in a critical condition after being forced to consume a ‘corrosive substance’ by two boys, her mother claimed.

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The police, however, after initial investigations said that the girl had tried to kill herself.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) issued a notice to her school after DCW chief Swati Maliwal was told the girl had informed her teachers about the stalkers almost a week ago.

The school has been asked to respond in 48 hours.

The incident came to light on Wednesday afternoon when doctors at Safdarjung hospital informed the police about the girl’s condition.

Police said they had registered an FIR on the statement given by the girl’s mother, who alleged the two boys regularly stalked her daughter. The boys allegedly forced her to consuming the corrosive substance. The teenager sustained burns in her food pipe, tongue and inner lip.

According to the doctor’s noting on the prescription, the girl had given in writing that she was forced to drink the corrosive substance by an ‘unknown person.

The girl’s mother told HT that she was allegedly being harassed by two boys for about a month and had not been going to school for the past 20 days.

Concerned about her studies, the mother convinced her to go back to school on Wednesday. The incident reportedly took place at the roundabout near the school when the girl was on her way to school.

According to the girl’s mother, her daughter was stopped and forced to drink the substance by the boys, after which she fainted. A college student later noticed her lying on the road and took her to the school.

The girl regained consciousness but again fell sick later after which a teacher from the school rushed her to a nearby hospital.

“Initially the doctors said it was acidity and let her go. But her health deteriorated again in two hours after which she was taken to Safdarjung hospital,” the girl’s mother said.

A senior police officer said that they were also probing if the girl had tried to kill herself. “There are contradictions in the statement of the girl’s mother,” the officer said.

The officer said that there were no acid stains on the clothes of the girl nor were they able to identify or name the alleged attackers. There are also no eyewitnesses to the incident.

Police also said that it is unclear if the two boys were students in the same school.

DCP (south east) MS Randhawa said: “As of now we have registered an FIR based on the girl’s mother’s statement but we are probing the case from all angles.”