New Delhi: A 19-year-old woman is fighting for life after consuming acid at her residence in southwest Delhi’s Vasant Kunj. Her family alleged that she was sexually exploited for a few years by a 25-year-old man under the pretext of a marriage. He has been arrested.On June 18, police were informed by a hospital about the suicide attempt. A police team collected the medical documents from the hospital, which declared the survivor as unfit to give a statement.The police team also inspected the house and seized the acid bottle. A preliminary inquiry revealed that the teenager was in a relationship with Rehan, who is from another community, which triggered her depression.On the day of the incident, the woman was alone at home. At 4.45pm, a neighbour saw her in pain and took her to the hospital. Later, the survivor’s mother submitted a written complaint at the VK south police station against Rehan for sexually assaulting her daughter under the pretext of marriage and blackmailing her with objectionable photos and videos. The complainant also submitted the survivor’s mobile phone with voice recordings to support the allegations that the man threatened her daughter to leak her private videos. “He also forced her to undergo an abortion,” the mother claimed.“The Vasant Vihar sub-divisional magistrate was informed and the tehsildar visited Safdarjung Hospital to record the survivor’s statement, but she was again declared unfit to give a statement. A report was submitted recommending an analysis of the phone and action as per law. Upon analysis, recordings corroborating the complaint were found on her phone,” police said.A case was registered under sections of rape and under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences. Rehan, who is unemployed, earlier worked at IGI Airport. His father is a labourer. “A Pocso case was registered as the accused was in a relationship with the woman when she was a minor,” police said.
