In yet another case of acid attack in the State, a woman and her daughter sustained burns after a youth threw acid on them here on Wednesday.
Police, who rushed to the spot, admitted the victims, Chidambaram (42) and her daughter Sita (19) of Pettai, to the Tirunelveli Government Hospital. The youth Sundar (26), a relative of the victims, was arrested.
According to police, around 7 am on Wednesday, Sundar gained entry into Chidambaram’s house with a can containing acid. When he spotted Chidambaram cooking in the kitchen, he threw acid on her. Sita, who heard her mother screaming, came to her rescue. However, Sundar attacked her also with acid, police added.
While Chidambaram sustained 40 per cent burns on her body including face, chest region, hands and legs, Sita sustained 20 per cent burns with injuries on head, neck and hands.
Speaking to Express, Sita said that Sundar attacked them with acid due to dispute over an ancestral property. On Tuesday night, he had hit her mother with a cricket bat on her forehead. “We got my mother treated at a private hospital,” she said.
Pettai police, who registered a case under various sections, including 326A (which deals the acid attack) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Sundar, are clueless as to where he sourced the acid from.
Doctors at the Tirunelveli GH said that they could tell about the chemical composition of the acid only if they test the sample. Forensic experts are investigating the case.
Police suspect Sundar would have committed the crime as he was unhappy with his father Kumaravel’s second marriage with a relative of Chidambaram. Kumaravel (52), a TNSTC driver, had married one Veni (45), a relative of Chidambaram last week. Since then, Sundar had been hostile with Chidambaram’s family.