The boy, without taking off his helmet asked Rita for a cigarette. Rita handed him the cigarette. He then demanded namkin, a type of salted food item.
As she turned toward him carrying a packet of namkin, he suddenly sprinkled a hot liquid on her face and chest using a syringe. The hot liquid, as it turned out, was acid.
The attack caused severe burns to the right side of Rita’s face and chest, prompting her to cry for help.
Since no one came for her rescue immediately, the attacker fled away.
“It was getting dark and I was about to close the shop. The attacker, who was wearing a helmet and a mask, threw acid on me and fled. I could not recognize him,” Rita, who is being treated at a hospital, told Republica.
Rita’s brother Rajesh reached the scene within five minutes, the effect of burns was already visible on the right side of her face and chest. She had also lost some of her hair, according to Rajesh.
“I rushed her to Rapti Sub-regional Hospital, which immediately referred her to Kohalpur Hospital,” he said.
Rita was still unconscious when she was taken to Kohalpur Hospital. On Friday morning, she was able to speak, according to police head-constable Rana Bahadur Bogati, who was on duty at the hospital.
Doctors said that they would conduct a plastic surgery on the burnt parts of her body.
Dr Binod Karna, one of the doctors involved in her treatment, said that she would be treated according to the depths of her burns.
“Her treatment would be possible only after removing the burnt out skin,” said Dr Karna, speaking to Republica over phone. He said that the skin from other parts of her body would be used to restore the burnt parts.
The police have yet to identify the perpetrator and establish the reason behind the attack.
Meanwhile, Rita’s family members have told the police that the attack may have resulted from past disputes with neighbors.
The police have said they are investigating the case based on the information provided by Rita’s family members.
“We have had several disputes with our neighbors on land-related issues,” Rita’s father Ram Prasad said.
A day before the attack, a quarrel between her and her neighbors had erupted over the boundary of their lands.
This is the first ever incident of acid attack in the district and the police are taking the issue seriously.
“We’ll dig out the truth and arrest the culprit soon,” DSP Prakash Raj Sharma of Dang District Police Office said.
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