Delhi acid attack case: Victim's father arrested after police find incident was staged

New Delhi [India], October 28 (ANI): Delhi Police have arrested the father of a woman who alleged an acid attack near Ashok Vihar, after the probe revealed inconsistencies in her statement and links to a separate harassment case filed by the main accused's wife, police said on Monday.
The accused has been identified as Akil.
Police said that their initial investigation the accused revealed that it was not acid that had been thrown on the woman. Instead, the accused's daughter had taken toilet cleaner from their home and poured it on her hands herself, after which a false case of acid attack was registered.

Delhi Police also stated that since the accused has been arrested and is being continuously interrogated, all the facts are being corroborated. The woman's father was detained earlier.

According to a Delhi Police statement, on October 26, a 19-year-old open-school student was admitted to a hospital with burn injuries on her hands.
She told police that her acquaintance, along with his two friends, had attacked her with acid while she was walking towards her college for an extra class. She alleged that her acquaintance had been stalking her and that the two had argued about a month earlier.
Following the incident, an FIR was filed under Sections 124(1)/3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the spot was examined by the crime and forensic teams. However, during the investigation, police found several discrepancies in the woman's account.
According to officials, call detail records, CCTV footage, and witness statements placed her acquaintance in Karol Bagh at the time of the incident. The motorcycle allegedly used in the attack was also found there.
Police said that two days before the incident, the acquaintance's wife had lodged a complaint against the victim's father, accusing him of sexual harassment and blackmail during her employment in his factory between 2021 and 2024. A case in this regard was registered at the Bhalswa Dairy police station."Her (victim's) father, who was absconding, has now been taken into custody for questioning," the police said.
Meanwhile, the two other accused are reportedly in Agra with their mother. Police said their mother had herself been a victim of an acid attack in 2018, allegedly by relatives of the father of the acid attack victim, and has an ongoing property dispute with him. "The case is under trial," they added.
Officials said that CCTV footage from the day of the incident showed the complainant leaving her home in Mukandpur on a scooty driven by her brother, who dropped her near the Ashok Vihar area before she continued in an e-rickshaw.
Police said the reason her brother did not drop her off at the college gate after driving her all the way from Mukundpur to Ashok Vihar is being examined. The brother has also become unavailable and is not joining the investigation.
Further investigation is underway. (ANI)