Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday demanded public execution of the accused who threw acid at a teenage girl in Delhi’s Dwarka while she was on her way to school. The attack took place at Mohan Garden near Uttam Nagar.
In a tweet, the cricketer-turned-politician said, “Words can’t do any justice. We have to instil fear of immeasurable pain in these animals. Boy who threw acid at school girl in Dwarka needs to be publicly executed by authorities.”
Two masked men on a bike threw acid on a 17-year-old girl, minutes after she left her home for school on Wednesday. The girl has sustained eight per cent burn injuries and is undergoing treatment at Safdarjung Hospital’s burn ICU.
Three people — prime accused Sachin Arora and his two friends Harshit Aggarwal (19) and Virender Singh (22) — have been arrested, police said.
The incident was caught on CCTV camera and showed the girl shaking vigorously after the attack, which left burns on her face. She was with her younger sister when the attack happened, police said. They further said that prima facie it appears that nitric acid was used in the attack, and samples have been sent for forensic examination.
Special Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, Sagar Preet Hooda said Arora and Aggarwal were on the motorcycle and Singh was their aide in the crime. Before attacking the teenager, Singh took Arora’s scooty and mobile phone to another location to create an alibi and mislead investigators, Hooda said. However, following Arora’a arrest, police zeroed in on Aggarwal, he said, reported PTI.
The officer said that during interrogation, it was learnt that Arora and the victim were friends till September. They fell out and this led the accused, who lived in the same neighbourhood, to attack her.
Police said that based on technical evidence, it was found that the acid was procured on Flipkart and the payment was made by Arora through an e-wallet.
Acid Attack in the national capital
India’s national capital Delhi reported 11 acid attack cases in 2018 and 10 in 2019, data shows. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the following lockdown in the country, only two cases were reported.
In India, in 2018, a total of 228 cases were reported, 249 cases in 2019 and 182 cases in 2020.
Acid easy available despite ban
Following the incident, NGO Brave Souls Foundation, which works with acid attack survivors, tweeted “It is a shame that acid attacks carry on till date. Despite PIL in Delhi High Court, we see no ban on acid sale and no strict action against attackers. Until when will this horrific act be ignored? How long will the government act blind?”.
“Ban Acid Sale. Period,” the tweet read.
Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal raised questions on the availability of acid in markets despite a ban.