A 22-year-old woman was allegedly attacked with acid by her mother-in-law, who was angry with her for not fufilling her dowry demands and for bearing a girl child, in northeast Delhi’s New Usmanpur area Wednesday, police said.
The woman’s in-laws, including her husband, fled after the incident while she is undergoing treatment at Lok Nayak Hospital, said police, adding she suffered 25-30 per cent burns in the incident. An FIR under section 326 (A), pertaining to acid attack, has been filed against the accused.
The woman got married in November 2021 and has a six-month-old daughter. She said that she along with her child were being “harassed and tortured” by her in-laws and her husband.
“We (the woman and her in-laws) have a court case underway as well… I went to the court in the afternoon. After returning, I was on the second floor of the house…when my mother-in-law…poured acid on me. I saw my father-in-law and my sister-in-law in front of me…my mother-in-law…started screaming that I was going to kill her and ran away…I took the help of a boy (local) who dropped me to the hospital on his scooter,” reads the FIR lodged on the woman’s statement.
Sources told The Indian Express that the woman had filed a plea in the court last year against her in-laws for not “taking care of her and her child”. The matter was later dismissed as the two parties reached a compromise. However later, police said, the in-laws moved court against the woman, alleging that she was trying to “grab their property.”
On Wednesday, the woman attended the court in the same property case. She has also alleged that her husband attacked her last year in March-April leading to a miscarriage. Police said no such complaints have been received.
DCP (Northeast) Joy N Tirkey said, “We have lodged a case under relevant sections…there were family issues over the husband’s unemployment… and the girl child.”
At the hospital, the woman said harassment in her marriage began soon after the wedding in 2021. “My in-laws and husband would hit me every day. They wouldn’t allow me to leave the house or meet anyone. My husband…threatened to kill me when I refused to call my parents for money. They would even lock my daughter inside a room. I have called the police multiple times over this. Cops would come and get our door unlocked,” the woman told The Indian Express.
She said, a few months back, two of her husband’s friends had stalked and threatened her.
Her brother Kaushal said, “When I saw her, I was shocked. She had acid all over her face, clothes…We knew the marriage was bad for her. We even moved court once against the family because they mistreated my sister and her baby. Why did they attack her with acid?”
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He said, “They accused my sister of ruining their lives because of her girl child. Her husband was harassing me for Rs 1 lakh…I didn’t know they would do this…”
Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women sent a notice to the Delhi Police demanding arrest of accused and to find how the acid was procured.
In a statement, DCW said, “The complainant has alleged that in last March, her husband assaulted her… which resulted in a miscarriage”.