Hyderabad, April 09: An alleged acid attack on a woman on the premises of a city court on Thursday, that initially caused a stir, later turned out to be a sham but raised concerns over the security arrangements there. It all started when the woman, Naushin Sultana, rushed into the court hall of the fourt additional metropolitan magistrate here and complained to the magistrate that an acid attack took place on her.
She had alleged the hand of two brothers who were booked for outraging the modesty of her daughter. The mother and daughter used to work as domestic helps in the house of the accused.
Naushin (38) was immediately shifted to the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) but, to the surprise of the doctors, there were neither burns nor any other injuries on her body. “The drama ended after she was treated as an out-patient at the OGH,” Nampally Inspector K Ashok Chakrawarthi told Expresso.
It was revealed in the inquiry that in 2007 Naheeda, daughter of Naushin, lodged a case against her employer’s sons – Masood Ahmed and Zahed Ahmed – for outraging her modesty. “Today, Masood Ahmed and Zahed Ahmed were scheduled to face the trial. When they were seated inside the court hall, Naushin came inside alleging that their sister, Farzana, threw acid at her,” Ashok Chakrawarthi said. Nampally police took both the accused into custody and enquried about Farzana. However, both denied the charge saying their sister was in her home at Karimnagar. “When we contacted Farzana she told us that she was at Korutla in Karimnagar district. The local police also confirmed her presence there,” the police officer said.
Police, however, said they recovered a bottle of liquid cleaner from the corridor of the court building which Naushin apparently used and claimed it as acid. That the woman could carry in the chemical bottle bypassing the security personnel at the court entrance, has raised some hackles. Police are considering registering a case against Naushin.
———Agencies