Spurned youth throws ‘acid’ at minor girl at Kanakapura in Karnataka

Kanakapura police have booked the accused accused under Section 326A of Indian Penal Code for voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid, and various sections of POCSO Act, 2012

A 17-year-old girl suffered injuries in her eye after a youth threw ‘acid’ on her face at Kanakapura on February 17. The accused, Sumanth, 22, is a resident of Kurupete, where he also works as a mechanic in a garage. He has been arrested. 

The victim suffered injuries in her left eye. She was initially treated at Kanakapura Government Hospital and later referred to Minto Eye Hospital in Bengaluru where she is under treatment now. There are no other burn injuries, police said. 

The girl and the accused were reportedly on friendly terms for nearly a year, but the accused proposed a relationship, which she spurned, police sources said. On February 17 evening, the accused waylaid the victim on Kanakapura Bypass Road and tried to convince her to get into a relationship with him, sources said. But when she resolutely spurned him, an angry Sumanth allegedly splashed a chemical used in the garage on her face. As she immediately turned her face away, the liquid fell only on her left eye, police sources said. 

“In her complaint, the victim has alleged that the accused splashed acid on her face. We have collected the sample and sent it to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Madiwala to ascertain the chemical composition of the liquid,” said Karthik Reddy, Superintendent of Police, Ramanagaram district.

However, sources in Kanakapura police said that the liquid was a thinner, and not an acid. 

Based on the complaint from the victim, Kanakapura police have booked the accused youth under Section 326A of Indian Penal Code for voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid, and various sections of POCSO Act, 2012, as the victim is a minor.