An acid attack that wasn’t

What initially looked like an acid attack on a 20-year-old Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board (NCWEB) student of Laxmibai College in Northwest Delhi turned out to be a well-planned and executed conspiracy to save her father, Aqeel Khan, who was facing sexual assault charges.

The police mentioned that the acid, used for cleaning toilet, was carefully poured on the hands of the girl by his own father.

According to the police, a call was received from Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital regarding the admission of a girl with acid burn injuries on Sunday. The woman, in her complaint, told the police that while she was going to her college for an extra class, three men, Jitender, Ishan and Arman, known to her threw acid.

However, in a twist to the case, CCTV footage that showed the alleged accused, Jitender, was riding a motorcycle in Karol Bagh, nearly five km away from the alleged attack site, at the time the student claimed she was assaulted.

CCTV footage, CDR analysis and witness statements established that the accused, Jitender, mentioned in the complaint was in Karol Bagh at the time of the alleged incident, and his motorcycle was also found there.

Meanwhile, co-accused Arman and Ishan were found to be in Agra with their mother, Shabnam, who revealed that she herself was a victim of an acid attack in 2018 allegedly by Aqeel Khan’s relatives and is currently embroiled in a property dispute with him.

The CCTV footage also showed the victim being dropped near Ashok Vihar by her brother before she took an e-rickshaw towards the college, raising further questions about her version of events.

Her father, Akil Khan, was arrested on Monday after he confessed to plotting the fake attack to avenge a rape complaint filed against him by the wife of one of the accused his daughter had named.

The woman had earlier accused Khan of sexually assaulting her between 2021 and 2024 while she worked at his socks factory.

Meanwhile, the police said the examination of the liquid seized from the scene had confirmed it was a toilet cleaner, not acid. The police will now quiz the girl once she is discharged from the hospital.