Delhi: Acid used to attack 17-year-old purchased from Flipkart, 20-year-old is main accused

The attack was widely condemned and drew sharp responses. Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena spoke to the Police Commissioner while Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, expressing shock at the incident, said the “accused should get the strictest punishment possible”.

BJP’s East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir demanded that the perpetrators of the attack be “publicly executed by authorities”.

A team from the National Commission for Women visited the hospital and met the victim’s family. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights asked police to take urgent action.

The girl was barely 100 metres from her house in Dwarka when she was attacked. A CCTV clip shows one of the accused, riding pillion on a motorcycle, throwing an acid-like substance at the girl. She is seen shielding her face and running away.

Her younger sister ran home and informed her parents, while shopkeepers in the area rushed to pour cold milk and water on the girl’s face.

Sagar Preet Hooda, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), said the main accused, Sachin Arora (20), and his associates Harshit and Virender Singh have been arrested.

“Harshit was on the bike with Sachin. Virender is involved in the conspiracy. We have recovered the bike and a mobile phone. The acid was ordered on Flipkart and payment was made online by Sachin,” Hooda said.

He said Sachin and the girl knew each other but around September, she stopped talking to him. “He was enraged and planned this. Virender tried to mislead police and create a false alibi for Sachin. He wore similar clothes, took Sachin’s phone, and stood with a bike at another spot. The acid-like substance will undergo chemical examination,” he said.

DCP Harsha Vardhan said the accused started planning the attack a few days ago. “We are not sure of the nature of the acid. Prima facie, it’s nitric acid that was used,” he said.

Police said Arora does wallpaper work, while Harshit works in a private company where he does packing work. Virender is a generator mechanic.

The girl’s father, a businessman, told The Indian Express, “My daughters usually go to school together. I think they were waiting for another friend at the chowk when those boys attacked her. I can’t believe all this happened in a busy lane. My daughter has never hurt anyone. If I had known about the man, I would have taken care and dropped her to school. My younger daughter said there were two men and their faces were covered.”

The parents rushed the girl to a local hospital which referred her to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, from where she was taken to Safdarjung Hospital.

Doctors at Safdarjung hospital said the girl has 7-8% burn injuries and is undergoing treatment.

“She is not critical. She has burn injuries on her face and neck, and her eyes are swollen. She can talk and is recovering,” an official said.

DCP Harsha Vardhan said, “We received information around 9 am that the girl was attacked by two bike-borne men with an acid-like substance.”

According to police, the girl and her sister identified the accused and the arrests were made after several raids.

The girl’s uncle said: “She was preparing for her CLAT exams on December 18. We are all scared now. How can anyone attack someone with acid? The girls would take the Metro every day for school. She had hinted that a boy was harassing her… We just want her to recover soon.”

Her mother said the girl wants to become a judge: “I don’t have the strength to look at her face. She is in pain, and is suffering. I want the police to arrest everyone involved.”