Woman attacked with acid, 6th case in 15 days

A 20-year-old woman was allegedly attacked by an unidentified assailant who threw acid on her in the New Usmanpur area of the Northeast district on Tuesday.

A 20-year-old woman was allegedly attacked by an unidentified assailant who threw acid on her in the New Usmanpur area of the Northeast district on Tuesday. This is the sixth such incident in Northeast Delhi in the past fortnight.

According to the police, the incident took place around 7.30 am in the Brahmpuri locality of New Usmanpur area. The victim, Amreen Nasim Siddqui, a teacher at Navjeevan School in the same area, was going to her school when the attack took place.

Police said Siddqui, in her statement, told them that she was crossing a narrow lane near her house when a youngster came up behind her and threw acid on her back. The assailant fled the spot before she could react. She also described her attacker to the investigators. 8220;The victim received burn injuries on her back and was taken to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital for medical treatment and is still admitted there,8221; the senior police officer added.

The victim8217;s father works with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi MCD while her brother Nadeem Akhtar Siddiqui works as an interior designer with an Ahmedabad-based firm in Saket.

Despite claims by the police that they are trying to trace the accused as soon as possible, the local residents continue to live in a state of terror. Kehekasha, a local resident said, 8220;The area is becoming highly unsafe for women and we are apprehensive of stepping out of our homes after six in the evening.8221;

Secretary of the RWA in the area Purushottam Rawat said, 8220;The law and order situation has worsened in our locality. Despite our complaints, no strict action has been taken yet.8221;

Javeria, an 18-year-old girl who is the victim an earlier acid attack, said, 8220;Last month, I was going to a local shop when a man threw acid at me.8221;

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Deputy Commissioner of Police, Northeast district, Surender Yadav said that the chemical being used by the assailant is not exactly acid and does not leave permanent scars. 8220;A sketch has been prepared of the serial attacker using the victim8217;s description. We have launched teams to nab this serial attacker and will arrest him soon.8221;

Past incidents

Three of the six incidents have occurred in the same street in Gautam Puri area and the remaining three in Brahmpuri area. All attacks reportedly are similar.

October 11: a 16-year-old girl attacked in Gautampuri.

October 20: a 17-year-old girl attacked in Brahmpuri

October 28: an 18-year-old girl attacked in Gautampuri

October 30: a 12-year-old girl attacked in Brahmpuri

November 1: an 18-year-old girl attacked in Gautampuri