New Delhi/Mumbai:
Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has lashed out at the Congress-led Maharashtra government for offering Rs 2 lakh in compensation to the family of a 23-year-old woman who died on Saturday after acid was thrown on her by unidentified people as she got off a train last month.
Ms Swaraj tweeted, "The acid attack on Preeti Rathi ....and her death... is very painful..... Unfortunately.... the culprit is still at large....Compensation of mere 2 lakh ...by Maharashtra Govt.... is grossly inadequate..... It is adding insult to the injury."
The young nurse Preethi Rathi's family met Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil yesterday and has demanded a CBI inquiry into the attack on her. Mr Patil promised a thorough probe.
On May 2, as Preeti got off the New Delhi-Mumbai Garib Rath Express at the Bandra Terminus to join a new job as a nurse at Mumai's Army Hospital, her attackers threw acid on her. She died almost a month later after an infection spread through her body. Preeti had been communicating with her parents by writing messages on pieces of paper after the attack.
The Railway Police, who have been investigating the case so far, have not been able to track down Preeti's attackers. The attack happened on a bustling railway platform which has at least a dozen cameras. The Bandra Terminus also has a full-fledged railway police outpost. Yet, the attackers escaped.
Pragya Singh, who represents an NGO called Stop Acid Attacks, told reporters, "RR Patil has assured us that he will set up a committee to look into the issue of regulating acid sale, which will have members from NGOs so that we can make our society safer for women."