Jilted man throws acid on woman’s face in Guj; held

Ahmedabad: A 23-year-old woman suffered burn injuries on her face allegedly after a spurned man flung acid on her for refusing his proposal to marry her in Navsari town today, police said.

The accused, identified as Shahnawaz Khalifa (25), has been arrested.

Police said the accused was her friend.

The incident occurred when Sheetal Patel was passing by Navsari ST bus depot when Khalifa allegedly walked near her and threw inflammable liquid, leaving her with burn injuries on face, a police official said.

Patel was rushed to a government hospital, where her condition is stated to be stable.

According to police, Khalifa was angry with Patel, who lived in a neighbouring village in Chikhli taluka of the district, since she turned down his offer to marry her.

Police said Khalifa had intimidated Patel of dire consequences, including defacing her with acid and posting her morphed pictures on social media.

“Both the accused and the victim were friends.

However, the accused was pressing her for marriage and threatened her with dire consequence after she rejected his proposal. We have arrested the accused. The girl has sustained minor injuries,” said Navsari Deputy SP V J Jadeja.

Khalifa has been booked under various sections of IPC, including 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous means), 506 (criminal intimidation) along with the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act as the girl belongs to a tribal community.