New Delhi: Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal has written to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. She has sought strict action in a case where a man allegedly forced his wife to drink acid. The woman is admitted to a hospital in Delhi and her condition is critical, the commission said. Swati Maliwal asked Chouhan to get the culprits arrested as soon as possible. She also sought strict action against the police officers who handled the case in an insensitive manner. The incident happened June 28. The 25-year-old woman was forced to drink acid by her husband and sister-in-law.
A neighbour got her admitted to a nearby hospital in Gwalior, the DCW said. It claimed that the Madhya Pradesh police registered a ‘weak’ FIR in the matter July 3. Police omitted the ‘sections related to acid attack and termed this heinous act as domestic violence’.
As the woman’s condition worsened, she was brought to Delhi for treatment July 18. Her brother called the commission’s 181 helpline, after which a DCW team got her admitted to a Delhi hospital. It also got her statements recorded before a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) here.
The survivor has alleged in her statements that her husband was in an illicit relationship with a woman. When she got to know about it, he brutally thrashed her and made her drink acid, the DCW said.
Maliwal and DCW member Promila Gupta met the survivor at the hospital. She is in a very critical condition and according to the doctors, her internal organs are totally burnt and damaged, Maliwal said.
The woman’s food pipe, stomach and intestines have got burnt and are visible. She can neither drink nor eat anything anymore. She is also vomiting blood very frequently. Her chances of survival are very less, the DCW chief said. A DCW team has been assisting the survivor at the hospital since she was admitted there.
“The doctors are not very hopeful of her recovery as she is in a very bad state. It is a matter of shame that the Madhya Pradesh police dealt with such a serious case with this kind of insensitivity. I have written a letter to the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, asking him to get the culprits arrested. I have also requested him to ensure action against the police officers who tried to weaken the case,” Maliwal said.