Three minor sisters injured in alleged acid attack in UP's Gonda; accused arrested

District Magistrate Nitin Bansal said the eldest girl will be given Rs five lakh under a government scheme and the family will be provided assistance in accordance with norms. Attacking the Adityanath regime after the incident, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the state government's "politically motivated" narrative of "protecting" and justifying perpetrators of crimes against women has emboldened them.

Three minor sisters suffered burn injuries in an alleged acid attack by a man when they were sleeping on the terrace of their house in Paksa village in this district of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Tuesday. A senior police officer said the eldest sibling, who is 17 years old, has told them that the accused, identified as Ashish, had been stalking her.

The accused was arrested after an encounter with police personnel later in the evening. The three victims, who belong to a Dalit family, are undergoing treatment at the district hospital and are stated to be out of danger.

The eldest one, whose engagement was fixed for October 23 and who appeared to be the prime target of the attack on Monday night, has suffered eye injuries. Taking note of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the Gonda superintendent of police (SP) to take strict action against the culprit and ensure that such incidents are not repeated, an official statement issued in state capital Lucknow said.

The chief minister instructed the district administration to provide immediate assistance to the victims and ensure proper medical treatment for them, it added. Condemning the incident, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav again targeted the Adityanath government over the law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state is already facing a lot of flak over the Hathras gangrape-murder case.

The father of the girls has, in his complaint, alleged an acid attack on his daughters, aged 17, seven and five years. "Prima facie the probe has revealed that Ashish had been trying to approach the eldest girl. The girl has said that Ashish was bothering her for some days and had pressured her to talk to him. We have got some other proofs to substantiate the girl's statement," SP Shailesh Kumar Pandey said.

"The accused has been arrested following an encounter," the officer told PTI. Asked whether it was an acid attack, he said, "The chemical used in the attack is yet to be identified. It will be clear after an examination by experts." Chief Medical Officer Indubala said all the three girls are "out of danger".

"One of them has suffered injuries to her eyes. Our team is giving them the best treatment," she said. District Magistrate Nitin Bansal said the eldest girl will be given Rs five lakh under a government scheme and the family will be provided assistance in accordance with norms.

Attacking the Adityanath regime after the incident, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the state government's "politically motivated" narrative of "protecting" and justifying perpetrators of crimes against women has emboldened them. She posted a video on Twitter, in which the father of the girls is narrating the incident to reporters.

Yadav termed the incident "unfortunate" and claimed that law and order in Uttar Pradesh has collapsed during the BJP regime. The SP chief also sent a delegation of local party leaders from Gonda to the village of the girls and on his direction, financial assistance of Rs one lakh was given to the family, SP leaders said.

"After an attempt to kill a priest in Gonda, the incident of throwing of acid on three Dalit sisters is extremely sad and shameful. "Such a worsening of law and order in UP is a matter of great concern. After all, why is every type of crime going up in UP," Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.

The Adityanath government is facing severe criticism for its handling of the Hathras case, particularly after the local police cremated the woman's body at night allegedly without the family's approval. However, officials said the cremation was done "according to the wishes of the family".

The probe into the case has been taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).