16-yr-old girl dies months after forced acid ingestion

NEW DELHI: A 16-year-old girl who was allegedly forced to ingest acid several months ago has died in Delhi, with police investigating charges of sexual assault, child marriage and abetment.

Police said they received information about the case through a complaint registered at Geeta Colony police station in east Delhi. The teenager was brought to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital in critical condition, where doctors declared her dead on February 7.

An autopsy was conducted the following day, but the exact cause of death remains undetermined. Medical examiners have cited the long gap between the alleged acid ingestion and the girl’s death, and said a conclusive opinion will be given after laboratory analysis. Viscera samples have been preserved for histopathological and chemical examination.

Investigators said the girl had married a 22-year-old man in July 2025 in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, in a ceremony attended by members of both families, who are reportedly distant relatives. At the time, she was below the legal age for marriage.

Police records show that on October 29, 2025, a medico-legal case was registered at Maulana Azad Medical College & Hospital noting “acid ingestion”, with no mention of assault. At the time, the girl and her mother allegedly told doctors that she had consumed acid following a domestic argument. On January 23, the girl’s mother alleged sexual assault and forced acid ingestion; police are probing contradictions, coercion, and await forensic reports.