New Delhi: The father of the 20-year-old Delhi University student, who alleged she was attacked with acid, was detained on Monday night, police sources said, hours after it emerged that a rape case had been filed against him by the wife of one of men accused.
ThePrint reported earlier in the day that the acid attack case may have been fabricated as a revenge plot by the DU student’s family.
The student had told the police that a man who had been stalking her for over a year and two of his associates threw acid on her while she was on her way to Laxmi Bai College near Ashok Vihar on Sunday.
Her brother, who is now untraceable, had spoken to ThePrint on Monday morning and said the acid attack occurred a month after the 20-year-old had a heated confrontation with the accused and his wife.
But the case turned in the hours after.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Bhisham Singh said the student and her family’s “story—sequence of events and timeline—weren’t adding up”.
On her injuries, the DCP said those appeared to be “superficial in nature”.
“Doctors said that they were caused by a chemical, which needn’t necessarily be an acid. Moreover, only traces of a chemical were found at the spot where she said that the acid attack took place. There were no splash marks on the walls. Swabs have been sent for forensics,” the DCP said.
According to the student’s family, she sustained injuries to her hands as she tried to shield her face from the acid.
Police found only traces of a chemical at the alleged attack site, with no splashes on surrounding walls. Swabs have been sent for forensic analysis.
The main accused, who works as a painter, was at his shop in Karol Bagh throughout the morning when the attack allegedly occurred, police said. Call detail record analysis, CCTV footage and witness statements corroborated his presence there.
“Entire Ashok Vihar’s CCTV footage was checked and no such motorcycle was found. The motorcycle alleged to have been used in the attack was also located in Karol Bagh during the relevant period,” Singh said.
The wife of the painter had made a PCR call reporting sexual assault just two days before the acid attack complaint. She alleged that the student’s father sexually assaulted her for four years while she worked at his factory and blackmailed her with photographs and videos.
An FIR for rape was subsequently registered at the Bhalswa Devi police station on her complaint.
“The student’s father was absconding, but was found and detained at Sangam Vihar. Her brother is yet to be found,” a police source said.
CCTV footage contradicted the student’s account of how she reached the spot. While she claimed to have travelled by e-rickshaw and made no mention of her brother, footage shows her leaving her home on a scooter driven by her brother, who dropped her near Ashok Vihar, a short distance from the college.
“She was later seen travelling further in an e-rickshaw. The reason why her brother did not drop her at the college gate after driving her all the way from their home to Ashok Vihar is being examined,” the DCP said.
The co-accused named in the acid attack case are currently in Agra with their mother and are expected to join the investigation shortly, police added.
Property dispute and a 2018 acid attack
The case is further complicated by a property dispute and a 2018 acid attack.
The mother of one of the co-accused, a Mangolpuri resident, was herself a victim of an acid attack in 2018, allegedly by relatives of the DU student’s father. That case remains under trial.
A property dispute between the co-accused’s mother and the DU student’s father over a Mangolpuri property also exists, police said.
(Edited by Prerna Madan)
Also Read: Love, lies & LPG: How forensic student dressed her live-in partner’s murder as fire accident