It was an acid attack allegedly plotted by a jilted lover. Only this time the victim, an FYBMS student of Hinduja College, was a boy.
It was an acid attack allegedly plotted by a jilted lover. Only this time the victim, an FYBMS student of Hinduja College, was a boy. And the girl allegedly incited a boy with a crush on her to carry out the attack.
According to the police, on March 28, after giving an exam in environmental management in his college, Vivek, who belongs to Valsad in Gujarat, and his friend Jitesh Gorasia went to a nearby hotel for a cup of tea and then went for a stroll on the Kennedy Bridge.
Around 11am, while they were walking on the bridge, a teenaged boy threw acid from a bottle on them. Vivek chased the boy but could not catch him. He was admitted to the intensive care unit of Bhatia Hospital with severe burn injuries on the right sides of his shoulder, elbow, cheek and neck. Jitesh also suffered serious burns on his nose and forehead, the police said.
The unit II of the crime branch investigated the case and arrested Sabby Abraham, 19, and Keyur Parmar, 19, both residents of Valsad, for their alleged involvement in the attack.
During interrogation, the two revealed that the attack was planned by Vivek’s former girlfriend Gwendoline Naronha, an SYBCom student of St Andrews College in Bandra, the police said.
“The two (Vivek and Gwendoline) had known each other from their school days in Valsad,” Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner of police (crime), said. “But Vivek’s parents did not approve of their relationship. So he stopped meeting her,” Maria said.
“Hurt, Gwendoline then conspired with Abraham, who had a crush on her, to carry out acid attack by playing on his emotions,” the joint commissioner said.
Gwendoline told Abraham that Vivek had raped her during Navratri in 2007 and that she wanted to avenge this. But since Abraham was known to Vivek, he asked his friend Keyur to do the job.
“On March 23, Easter Sunday, Gwendoline gave the duo Rs600 for buying acid and a SIM card in the name Vivek’s cousin,” Maria said. “Their plan was to call Vivek’s home with the SIM card after the attack, and leave the phone at the scene of the crime, so that Vivek’s cousin got implicated for the crime,” he said.
According to Maria, Gwendoline felt that Vivek’s cousin had told his parents about their affair, which then resulted in their splitting.
“But they could not buy a SIM card, since they could not produce proper documents for address and identity verification,” said Maria. They decided to go ahead with their plan without the SIM.
“Gwendoline was in touch with Abraham and Keyur over phone. After the attack, the three met near Government Law College, where Gwendoline gave Abraham and Keyur Rs4,500 for the ‘work’. Gwendoline also visited Vivek at the hospital to ensure that no one doubted her,” said Maria.
Gwendoline has secured interim bail from a local court. The crime branch will challenge the bail on Saturday and seek her custody, he said.
Vivek stays as a paying guest in Gamdevi area, while Jitesh stays in a hostel in the same vicinity.
s_somendranath@dnaindia.net 
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