DU student’s family faked acid attack to settle old disputes, probe reveals

Police said the father attacked his daughter with toilet cleaner to implicate rivals; he’s also accused of raping and blackmailing a neighbour’s wife.

The Delhi Police on Tuesday said the alleged acid attack on a 20-year-old Delhi University student, outside Lakshmi Bai College on Sunday was staged by her family, as part of a larger conspiracy to settle scores with two other families with whom they had separate disputes.

The woman, a student of DU’s School of Open Learning, had initially alleged that three men on a bike threw acid on her while she was walking to college. She was admitted to RML Hospital with burn injuries to her hands. (PTI)

The woman, a student of DU’s School of Open Learning, had initially alleged that three men on a bike threw acid on her while she was walking to college. She was admitted to RML Hospital with burn injuries to her hands. However, police said the case took a dramatic turn after they found “contradictions” in her statement and CCTV footage brought more discrepancies to the fore.

Police said the brother admitted to the conspiracy, while the uncle denied any involvement. The woman has been discharged from hospital. “The father influenced his daughter and son to stage this. He carefully planned the whole charade to make it appear as if a stalker targeted his daughter near the college. We are questioning more people,” said another officer.

According to investigators, the man she named as the main accused had earlier filed an FIR against the woman’s father on October 24 accusing him raping his wife and blackmailing her with objectionable photos and videos. Police later verified that this “main accused” was in Karol Bagh, not Ashok Vihar, at the time of the alleged incident.

Further probe revealed that two of the supposed co-accused were distant relatives of the woman. Police said their mother and the woman’s father were locked in a property dispute, and in 2018, the woman’s family had allegedly attacked their mother with acid.

On Tuesday, police detained the woman, her brother, and her uncle for questioning; all were later released. “During questioning, the woman admitted that it was her father who attacked her with a strong toilet cleaner, while her brother later dropped her near the college. The family had planned to frame the three men,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity.

The father, who was held from Sangam Vihar late on Monday, has been arrested for rape and blackmail of the neighbour’s wife and for faking the acid attack, police said. “He has been held for both offences,” the officer cited above added. Police said they now plan to invoke criminal conspiracy charges in the rape FIR and book the entire family.

Bhisham Singh, DCP (northwest) said, “We have evidence that the main accused named in woman’s complaint is not behind the acid attack. The other two people she named are residents of Mangolpuri and are aged around 15-17. They are both out of town (even at time of incident) and have agreed to join the probe.”