Bike-borne assailants throw acid on school girl in India, teen in critical condition

In a horrific incident reported from India's capital New Delhi, two bike-borne assailants threw acid on a 17-year-old girl while she was on her way to school.

The girl was with her younger sister when the incident took place in the Dwarka area of Delhi on Wednesday morning. She was immediately rushed to a local hospital, where she is being treated for her burns. The girl suffered 7-8% facial burns. Her eyes were also injured in the attack.

"My daughter left home at 7.30am. As soon as she crossed the street, she was attacked. The incident happened within six to seven minutes of her leaving the house. My youngest daughter had gone along with her and then came running to us," her father told Hindustan Times.

"Suddenly, two men on motorcycle came there and threw acid on her. She rushed towards nearby shops for help. One of the shopkeepers even poured some milk on her face. She was screaming for help and asked her younger sister to call their father," he said.

The police have arrested three men in connection with the case. The three have been identified as Sachin Arora, 20; Harshit Aggarwal, 19; and Virender Singh, 22.

"Based on information developed from witnesses and local sources, the accused were identified and arrested...within hours of the incident," the police said in the statement.

According to the police, the accused did meticulous planning before carrying out the attack. Sachin and Harshit threw acid on the girl, while Virender took their mobile phones to another location to create an alibi for them and mislead the police.

According to some local media reports, Sachin and the schoolgirl knew each other but had a falling out in September this year. The investigation into the case is still on.

The sale of acid has been banned in India since 2013, but the accused managed to procure it from e-commerce firm, Flipkart.

This is not the first time that a woman has been attacked with acid in India. The government had to put a ban on acid sales in 2013 after the country saw a record rise in such cases.

The country reported a total of 386 cases of acid attacks on women between 2018 and 2020, per the National Crime Records Bureau.