Teen boy critical after man who blamed him for daughter’s death throws acid on him at Goa bus stop

The Sindhudurg police in Maharashtra are investigating the death of the accused’s minor daughter as a case of “unnatural death”, the Goa Police said.

Monday’s incident took place at around 7.45 am, when the minor boy was waiting for a bus to go to college. Police said the accused arrived on a scooter and flung a mug of chemical from a bucket at the minor boy. At 8.20 am, police received information from the district hospital in Mapusa that the minor had suffered burn injuries. He was then moved to Goa Medical College and Hospital for treatment.

Dr Rajesh Patil, medical superintendent and professor of surgery at Goa Medical College (GMC), said the minor boy’s condition is unstable and that he is critical.

“He has deep burn injuries to the eye, nose, neck, shoulder and the right side of the face. He was intubated at Asilo district hospital in Mapusa and sent to GMC. We have put him on a ventilator presently. A multi-disciplinary team of plastic surgeons, anaesthetists and chest physicians are conducting the treatment. We are also suspecting a pulmonary injury due to the fumes from inhalation of the acid. We are making all efforts to save his life first, and later we will get a clearer picture of the extent of damage to the eye and other injuries after further examination,” the doctor said.

On the complaint of the victim’s father, an FIR was registered at Pernem police station under BNS sections 109 (attempt to murder) and 124(1) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid etc), as well as section 8(2) of Goa Children’s Act. Teams from police stations in Pernem, Mandrem and Mopa Airport were formed to trace the accused.

The boy’s father said the incident happened minutes after he dropped off his son at the bus stop. “As soon as I returned home, I got a call saying he had been attacked. I rushed to the spot and he told me that someone arrived on a scooter and threw acid on him,” the father said.

Police said the accused, a native of Dodamarg in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, was arrested in the evening from Karaswada in Goa.

North Goa SP Rahul Gupta said the accused confessed to committing the crime. “The accused person informed that he suspected the minor boy to be associated with the death of his daughter as they were in a relationship. The chemical used in the incident is suspected to have been taken from…where the accused worked. The two-wheeler used in the crime has been seized,” said the SP.

Police said the daughter of the accused was undergoing treatment for typhoid and was also admitted to a hospital last month.

A police officer, requesting anonymity, said, “The cause of his daughter’s death has not been ascertained so far and is being probed by Sindhudurg police. In preliminary interrogation, the accused said that his daughter and the minor boy used to study in the same school earlier and had been in a relationship. They broke up later, but according to the accused, they remained in touch. Last month, after she died, the accused believed that the minor boy was somehow connected and responsible for her death and decided to attack him.”