Kerala: Girl suffers 35 per cent burns in acid attack

KOLLAM: A 20-year-old girl has suffered severe burns in an acid attack by ex-classmate on a train at Kottarakkara railway station in the southern district of Kollam. Vijili, 20, is under observation in the burns intensive care unit of the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram. Co-passenger Aloysius, 22, who sustained burns on his face, is also undergoing treatment there. The girl, who had 35 per cent burns, was initially treated at the Kottara-kkara Taluk Hospital. Doctors at the MCH said her condition was stable.
“Since it has been an acid attack, it is serious. We are currently examining her in detail, and she’s in real pain,” the duty doctor told this newspaper.

The Kottarakara police said the attack took place on Edamon–Guruvayur passenger train around 1:45 pm as the girl was on her way back home in Punalur after attending classes at a career coaching centre. Fellow passengers overpowered the attacker, identified as Arun, 20, hailing from Punalur, pulled the alarm chain and handed him over to the police. The boy and the girl were classmates at Punalur Government Higher Secondary School and were said to be in a relationship. 

The acid attack was the result of an estrangement during the past fortnight, the police said. “He has confessed the crime, and that he was angry at the girl ditching him,” an officer told this newspaper The state has of late been witnessing several acid attacks. The recent was in Neyyar Dam police station limits where Sudheesh alias Unni of Kuttichal threw acid at a 22-year-old school teacher who was riding her two-wheeler.

The accused allegedly plotted the attack after the victim turned down his marriage proposal.  The motorcycle-borne attacker fled the scene, to be arrested later. In last June, in a suspected case of dowry harassment, Binukumar, 43, a native of Chengannur in Alappuzha, threw acid at his 31-year old wife from Punalur in Kollam.