In a case of mob justice in India, a 30-year-old man was blinded after a group of 20 people assaulted and injected acid into his eyes for allegedly eloping with his employer’s wife. The incident happened in Begusarai district of Bihar and one person has been arrested in the case, police said on Sunday.
The assault took place at an eatery in Pipra Chowk late on Saturday night in which the man, a tractor driver by profession, was left critically injured, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) BK Singh said.
The victim, a resident of Samastipur district, became blind after the incident, said doctors attending him.
In a statement before the police, the victim said he got into an affair with his employer’s wife, while he was working as a tractor driver at Barauni village under Teghra police station.
He fled with his paramour on 6 February, following which a complaint was lodged with the police by the woman’s husband charging him with kidnapping, said police.
However, the woman came to Teghra on 16 February and recorded her statement in a local court, which asked her husband, a farmer, to take her to his house.
It was not immediately known why she had returned and what she said in the court.
Later on Saturday, the woman’s brother-in-law contacted the driver claiming that she wanted to live with him and he should come to Teghra police station to take her back with him, the police official said.
However, barely a kilometre from the police station, the driver was accosted by a group of around 20 people, who took him to the eatery and severely assaulted him. The DSP said they also injected acid in his eyes with a syringe.
They later dumped him near Hanuman Chowk under Bhagwanpur police station area of the district. A passer-by admitted him to a hospital at Begusarai.
One person was arrested and the police were searching for other attackers, the DSP said.
(With agency inputs)