Woman attacked with acid as she resists rape bid; 1 held, 2 at large

A 35-year-old woman was attacked with acid by three men for resisting their alleged rape attempt at a village in East Champaran district, 190 km north of Patna, on Saturday night. She and her 10-year-old son also suffered burns in the attack.

This is the fourth acid attack in East Champaran in the past few months.

One of the men, Akash Kumar, was arrested. The other two are Prakash Kumar and former sarpanch Raghow Shaw.

The three men barged into the woman’s house with an intent to rape her, said an officer from Pakaridayal police station.

“Shaw tortured her, while the other two hurled acid on her and fled,” added the officer.

Pakaridayal police station SHO Nityanand Chauhan said, “The search for the other accused is on.”

Speaking to mediapersons at a hospital in Motihari, the woman said the three men had subjected her to eve-teasing, passed lewd comments and demanded sexual favours for the past few days.

She received injuries to her face and hands. She was undergoing treatment at the hospital.

On April 22 last year, a woman was attacked with acid by her relatives over a property-related dispute at Akauni village in Chiraiyya police station limits of East Champaran.

On March 18 last year, Sunil Kumar and his brother Amit Kumar, residents of Khiriyaghat village in Bairiya police station area in West Champaran, were attacked with a corrosive substance over a land dispute.

In July last, a man attacked a minor girl with acid when she resisted his attempt to rape her in a locality in East Champaran.