New Delhi: A 26-year-old married woman died of her injuries on Monday, nearly two weeks after being attacked with acid by a man in outer Delhi's Bawana area, police said.
The incident took place on November 3 when she rejected his marriage proposal. The accused, Montu (23), was arrested from Buxar district in Bihar, they said.
Police said the woman sustained third-degree burns on her face, neck, chest and abdomen after being attacked by Montu who lived in her locality and was known to her family.
"The woman died at the hospital in the evening. We have added section 302 to the FIR. Montu was arrested last week and has been booked under various sections. Our two constables had donated blood to help her but her condition was critical. She couldn't survive," police official Brijendra Yadav said.
Police had approached a Delhi-based dermatology clinic Medlinks which had agreed to perform reconstructive burn surgery on the victim for free after her recovery.
Her husband, who works as a daily-wage labourer in Bawana Industrial Area, said that he was waiting for her to get well and had assured his three children that he would return with their mother.
"The doctors had informed me about her deteriorating condition. I wish she had told me about Montu's activities, this wouldn't have happened. Now, I have to tell my children about that their mother is no more," he said.
The couple got married in May 2011 and they have a nine-year-old daughter and two sons, aged six and five, who are presently living at his brother's house, unaware of their mother's death.
"I don't know how they'll take this. I am all alone," her husband said.
Seeking justice for his wife, the man demanded that the accused should be hanged to death.
Meanwhile, a senior doctor at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where she was being treated, said that the woman had extensive acid burns and subsequent renal impairment (kidney failure) which led to her death.
"She had 45-50 per cent burn injuries and had also lost her eyesight a few days ago," he said.
According to police, on the day of the incident, Montu called the woman to his room on some pretext and again asked her to leave her husband and marry him. When she refused, he tied both her hands and threw acid on her before fleeing from the spot, they said.
Montu had even planned to kill the woman's husband and had bought a country-made pistol, police had said.
The accused has known the family for nearly two years and was harassing the woman despite her rejecting his advances on multiple occasions, they had added.