A 20-year-old woman has been hospitalised after a youth threw acid on her face when she was alone at her house in Adambakkam on Monday.
T. Deepa, a freelance compere for Doordarshan Podhigai, was living with her mother Ahalya and younger sister Saraswathi in Andal Nagar, Adambakkam. Ahalya is working as a document writer near the sub-registrar office in Nanganallur, while Saraswathi is a college student.
Around noon on Monday, a youth knocked on the door stating that he had come to deliver a courier. When Ms.Deepa opened the door, he gave her a letter and even as she was reading it, the youth pulled out a bottle of acid and poured the chemical on her face.
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The assailant, police said, fled on a motorcycle that was parked some distance away from the house.
Hearing her cries, neighbours of Ms.Deepa took her to a private hospital nearby. After first aid, she was taken to the Burns Ward of Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, where she was admitted. Adambakkam police received a complaint and registered a case late in the evening on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, the victim accompanied by her mother and sister went for a check-up at an eye hospital in Nungambakkam.
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In the afternoon, she visited a private hospital in Nandambakkam and later in the evening, she was admitted to another private hospital in the city.
V.Varadaraju, Deputy Commissioner of Police, St. Thomas Mount, said they had detained four youths on suspicion but were unable to zero in on the accused as the victim was reluctant to divulge the assailant’s identity.