Miscreants spray acid on mother, 11-month-old baby

Unidentified miscreants threw acid at a woman and her 11-month-old daughter during the wee hours when they both were deep in sleep at Barodisha in Alipurduar on Sunday.

Both the woman and her daughter were admitted to Alipurduar hospital with severe burn injuries on their bodies.

Police said the woman used to stay alone in a hut along with her daughter as her husband worked in a night shift. 

According to the statement of the victim, she heard some people shouting outside her house. She did not step out of her house.

After a few minutes they threw a bottle containing acid at her from the window.

Writhing in pain, she started crying for help. Neighbours rushed to her house but the miscreants managed to flee before they reached the spot.

The neighbours informed her husband and took her to the nearby hospital. 

She was later admitted to Alipurduar Hospital. Police have initiated a probe in this connection but have not made any arrest. 

A senior police officer said that the investigating officers have failed to talk to the victim as she was in a traumatised state. 

“We are waiting for her recovery to know if she suspects anyone,” the officer said.

Police sources, however, said that some people were disturbing the woman for the past few days. 

She had spoken about the matter to her neighbours. The reason could be an old rivalry of the accused with her husband.

On Saturday morning, her husband got engaged into a scuffle with some locals following a dispute in the factory where he had started working a few weeks ago.

Police had picked up some local youth in this connection on Sunday morning. They were released after interrogation. Police are yet to identify the accused and have initiated a search for some more people from the same area.

It may be mentioned that this is the fourth incident of acid attack in the past five months in Alipurduar.

The agitated residents of Radhanagar at Barodisha in Alipurduar have protested against the repeated incidents of acid attack in the district and have urged the police to take necessary steps.