Husband forced wife to drink acid, DCW writes to Madhya Pradesh CM

Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal has written to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeking 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.

Maliwal asked Chouhan to get the culprits arrested as soon as possible and ensure strict action against the police officers who handled the case in an insensitive manner.

The 25-year-old woman was forced to drink acid by her husband and sister-in-law on June 28. 

A neighbour got her admitted to a nearby hospital in Gwalior, the DCW said, claiming that the Madhya Pradesh police registered a "weak" FIR in the matter on June 3, "omitting 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 on July 18. Her brother called the commission's 181 helpline, after which a DCW team got her admitted to a Delhi hospital and 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 and 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, 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 and ensure action against the police officers who tried to weaken the case," Maliwal said.