An unidentified man attacked a 38-year-old woman with acid on Sunday evening and threatened her to withdraw a rape and extortion complaint that she had filed at the Malwani police station two months ago. The acid-filled plastic balloon, which the man threw at her, landed on her legs where she suffered burn injuries.
The rape-survivor, who is a property consultant, separated from her husband in 2010 and currently stays with her 11-year-old daughter at Andheri East.
In her statement to the Andheri police, she said she was waiting for an auto-rickshaw on the Western Express Highway around 10.50 pm when an unidentified person approached her and threw a plastic balloon at her. It also had a note attached to it, which said, “Take back your complaint against Bobby Bhole.”
The moment she started screaming for help, some passers-by and a police patrolling team reached the spot and took her to Cooper Hospital.
According to the woman’s statement, her business partner met alleged accused Bobby on Facebook and started dating her. On June 3, 2021, she filed a case of rape, extortion and threat against Bhole and her friends Zakir Shaikh, Mahesh Bhole, Akash Malhotra, Mayank and Kapil Bhole, at Malvani police station under Sections 376, 384, 385, 506, 326 and 34 of the IPC. Shaikh was arrested in the case. Though Bobby was called to the police station, she was later released.
The complainant further said, “For the past two months, I had been getting threat calls from Bobby, who insists that I take back the case. I approached the Malvani police and submitted a written complaint against her on August 6, but the officer asked me to submit the complaint at Sahar police station, as I had received the calls while I was at Andheri East.” On August 7, the Sahar police registered a non-cognisable (NC) against Bobby and the acid attack happened on August 8.
‘I fear for my daughter’
She added, “Both my legs have suffered burn injuries in the attack. My daughter and I are extremely worried. I am a single mother and have to go to work. My daughter stays alone at home. I am afraid that these people might try to harm my daughter. Bobby has threatened to kill my daughter too if I don’t withdraw the case. The Andheri police have assured to help me in this. My only request is to arrest Bobby.”
“We have registered a case under Section 326 (A) of the IPC and are trying to trace the man who attacked the woman. We are also trying to find out whether he was hired by Bobby to commit the crime. CCTV footage are being scanned to identify the accused,” said an officer from Andheri police station.
Surjitt Sahani
