A 16-year-old boy was apprehended Sunday for allegedly throwing some acid-like substance at a girl, who he chose as his victim at random near a school in north Delhi’s Burari area, police said. The attack took place on Wednesday around 1 pm when she had gone to pick her 10-year-old cousin from a school in the area’s Shastri Park Extension. The incident was reported the same day and an FIR was filed in the matter under section 326(b) and 341 of the Indian Penal Code at Burari Police Station.
The chemical caused the girl a ”burn-like sensation, itching and irritation on her eyes, neck, and nose,” a senior police officer said. After the attack, the girl was taken to a government hospital in Burari. She was discharged after treatment, the officer said.
Police formed three different teams to identify the assailant and nab him. However, since the victim didn’t know the attacker or had any previous brush with him made it hard for police to crack the case. ”The victim, however, had no reported history of personal animosity, spurned advances, or any romantic involvement with a boy, making the incident appear as a blind case.
”Unfortunately, there were no surveillance cameras at the site of the crime, which made the investigation not an easy task,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Manoj Kumar Meena said. One of the police teams focused on profiling the victim, examining her social media history, past contacts, and other relevant details.
”Another team was tasked with reviewing CCTV footage from the six roads leading to the crime scene, creating a temporal map of the possible routes taken by a suspect,” Meena said. The third team, in plainclothes, positioned itself near schools with a rough description of the attacker.
”After careful scrutiny, the CCTV team identified a boy running away from the scene of the crime about ten minutes apart, roughly a kilometre away. His face was not visible, but the boy matched the description provided,” said the DCP. Police resorted to playing back the video in slow motion and eventually managed to get a more accurate description, on the basis of which, the suspect was apprehended.
The boy confessed to the crime during interrogation, the officer said. ”Evidence, including the caustic powder used in the attack, a water solution, a small bottle, clothes, bag, and the handkerchief mask, were recovered. Clothes which the accused was wearing were recovered too,” he said.
In a preliminary examination, the suspect expressed a general dislike for girls and claimed to have chosen the victim at random, the officer said. ”He did not know the victim,” he added.
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