Acid thrown on girl in Rohtak, cops clueless

Lawlessness seemed to have gripped Rohtak, the hometown of Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, as in yet another heinous crime, two motorcycle borne youths threw acid on an 18-year old girl, said to be promising volleyball player, on Saturday.

The incident took place in broad daylight in the busy Prem Nagar Chowk area around 5.15 pm when the girl, Ritu was going for a practice session to nearby Saini Public School located near her residence in Chamanpura area on foot. She was near the school when two youths who carried the acid in a glass container splash it on her face, following which she fell down writhing under pain. She was rushed to PGI, Rohtak by a people PCR van after some people informed the police about the gory crime.

Though police feigned ignorance about the identity of the youths as well as the motive behind the heinous crime, people in the area who did not want to be named said that the youths had often teased grils since some time and Ritu could be one of them who had been ignoring them.

The mother of girl, Rani Devi, who was in state of shock told newspersons that her daughter did not told her about any such anticipation and that she could have gone from Prem Nagar area as idols of several goddesses had been placed there in the wake of forthcoming jagrata (nightlong recitals of bhajans).

The father of the victim, Sita Ram, a mason by profession, had yet not reached the PGI. The doctors attending on the girl said that she had sustained 20 % burns due to acid on her face. Since the acid had also burnt her mouth and eyes, her condition was serious.

The area deputy superintendent of police Dharna Yadav who rushed to spot held she was shocked because of the heinous crime and that she was taking some shopkeepers and onlookers who saw the youths in confidence to nab the culprits.

Meanwhile, a large number of area residents, shopkeepers and workers of BJP staged a traffic blockade there which was later withdrawn following the assurance by Yadav that the culprits would soon nabbed.

It may be recalled that it was a few days ago only when heinous crime of sexual abuse of minor girls staying in a shelter home had come in light after the activists of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) raided the shelter home.