In a shocking case of gender violence in Kerala’s capital city, a 34-year-old stalker was booked on Saturday for hurling acid on a sleeping woman.
The Thiruvananthapuram rural police booked Bineesh (34) hours after the attack took place on the 31-year-old woman at 3 am on Saturday.
The accused stalker, who is a carpenter by profession, allegedly reached the woman’s house at Mangalapuram, broke open the windows of her room and hurled acid on her face and body.
She was immediately rushed to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital, where she is currently undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit. According to reports, the woman is a janitor at the Techno Park campus in Thiruvananthapuram. She has sustained 29 percent burns from the attack.
Following a detailed investigation, officers at the Mangalapuram police station identified the accused and lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against him. He has been booked under sections 326 (A) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 447 (criminal trespass) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs 50) of the Indian Penal Code.
Kerala has a grim record of acid attack cases, with the state reporting the fourth highest numbers of acid attacks in both 2016 and 2017, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau.
In January 2019, a 35-year-old man was arrested for throwing acid on a woman and her four children in Pampakuda in Ramamangalam village in Ernakulam, while they were sleeping. The accused, identified as Renny, was in a live-in relationship with the woman. One of the children also suffered serious burn injuries in the attack.
In August 2018, a 32-year-old woman living in Karassery, Kozhikode, suffered serious burns to her face after her husband reportedly flung acid on her face. The accused was identified as Subash, and he had allegedly kept the bottle of acid ready and had thrown it at the woman as she was returning from work. He also stabbed her after the attack.