Delhi girl faked acid attack with toilet cleaner; father behind plan held, booked for rape
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi college student who alleged an acid attack had lied at the instance of her father, who wanted revenge against a rape complaint, police said on Monday.
Akil Khan, the student's father, was nabbed on Monday for allegedly fabricating the acid attack with a toilet cleaner, and raping the wife of the man his daughter accused of throwing "acid" at her.
On Sunday morning, a 20-year-old second-year BCom student enrolled in DU's Non-Collegiate Women's Education Board alleged that she had been attacked with acid by three men.
She named the three as Jitender and his two accomplices, Ishan and Arman, both brothers, and, as it later turned out, her relatives.
She claimed that she was attacked when she was on her way to attend an extra class, the police said.
However, several counterclaims soon emerged, one of which accused the father of the "victim" of rape.
Police had earlier found discrepancies in the student's statement and Jitender's location away from the crime spot.
In a statement, police said that Jitender's wife had earlier accused the alleged victim's father, Akil Khan, of rape. The matter was reported at the Bhalswa Dairy Police Station, but no written complaint was filed.
The woman alleged that between 2021 and 2024, she worked in Akil Khan's socks factory, where Khan sexually assaulted her and blackmailed her with her private photos and videos.
According to the police, the woman made PCR calls on October 24 and 25, but did not submit a written complaint.
On the basis of the allegation, police questioned Khan and arrested him when he revealed that he had fabricated the story of an acid attack, and the liquid in question was ordinary toilet cleaner.
"She (the student) allegedly put toilet cleaner on her hand after de-boarding the e-rickshaw… and screamed for attention," an officer said.
The woman had brought the liquid from her home in her bag, the officer said.
Earlier, investigators were perplexed as to why the student de-boarded the e-rickshaw about 300 metres away from her destination.
"Till Ashok Vihar, she was in a scooter with her brother. After that, she took an e-rickshaw to the college but de-boarded 300 metres away from the main gate of the college," the police said.
Her brother could not be contacted to join the investigation.
Jitender's location at the time of the incident was in Karol Bagh, around 5 km away from the crime scene.
Even the motorcycle said to have been used in the crime appears to be in Karol Bagh, the officer said.
Detained for questioning, Jitender, who works as a painter, maintained that he was not present in the area when the incident occurred.
No traces of acid were found at the spot, nor was there any sighting of the attackers in CCTV footage from the crime spot.
The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team failed to find any discarded acid bottles in the area.
Ishan and Arman, both distant relatives of the victim, the police said, are in Agra with their mother, Shabnam, a resident of Mangolpuri. They will be joining the investigation soon.
According to the police, in 2018, Shabnam too accused Akil Khan of rape. That matter is still sub judice.
It emerged that a long-standing dispute over a property in outer Delhi's Mangolpuri exists between the two families, the police said.
The same year, Shabnam alleged an acid attack by Khan and got an FIR filed at the Mangolpuri Police Station.
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
