A 26-year-old woman was attacked with acid in Telangana’s Nalgonda district on Sunday, after she tried to resist a rape attempt. She is presently availing treatment at a government hospital in Devarakonda.
According to a report in the Deccan Chronicle, the accused, identified as B Mahesh, entered the woman’s house when she was alone and tried to rape her. However, as she resisted, the police said that the accused abused her with casteist slurs and threw acid on her.
Hearing her cries, the neighbours, rushed to help and also caught the accused and handed him over to the police.
According to reports, the woman had previously filed a complaint against the accused with the police. The accused had also threatened her to withdraw her complaint.
“When the victim refused his advances, the accused abused her in the name of caste and attacked her with acid. After she cried for help, locals came to her rescue and nabbed the accused,” local Sub-Inspector K Vijaykumar told DC.
Police have taken the accused into custody and filed a case under relevant sections of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act besides sections of the IPC.
Last year in December, a similar incident took place in Hyderabad’s Lalapet area, where a 22-year-old woman, N Sandhya Rani, was attacked with acid by a stalker in public view.
The accused, Sai Kartheek, had been harassing the victim repeatedly. However, as she rejected his advances, the accused threw acid on the victim when she was on her way home after work.
After suffering third-degree injuries, Sandhya Rani succumbed to her injuries at the city’s Gandhi Hospital the next day. In her dying declaration, she revealed how the accused had been harassing her. Following this, the police arrested the accused and charged him with murder and also under sections of the SC and ST Act as Sandhya was a Dalit.