Preeti Rathi's Death Was An Honour Killing, Alleges Ankur Panwar

Mumbai: "It's been a long and painstaking wait for justice, and finally there is some good news. I saw my daughter dying in pain before my eyes. Panwar should also suffer. He should be hanged for what he has done," said her father, Amar Singh Rathi.

But, after three years of fighting for justice for 23-year-old Preeti Rathi who was killed in an acid attack, her grieving parents now face a shocking accusation from the very person who was convicted of the murder - their neighbour Ankur Panwar (25). He claims it was not him but Preeti's family who attacked her in an honour killing, and were now trying to frame him instead.

'Framed'
"I have been framed in the case. Preeti's father is an influential man; her death was an honour killing but they want to hide that and are now pushing a foolish motive like jealousy. Will somebody follow a girl from Delhi to Mumbai without a ticket and throw acid on her just out of jealousy?" he told Judge Anju Shende.

On the other hand, Preeti's father told the media that Ankur had confessed to his hand in the acid attack. "When Ankur was arrested, he confessed his crime before me. He told me that he had flung the acid on Preeti. She had done no wrong and she never even complained about anything related to Ankur to us. My daughter had done nothing to him; why did he do this to her? After her death, we have suffered a lot in the last three years. This has been a great loss to our family," said her father, Amar Singh Rathi.

Full of promise
Delhi resident Preeti had arrived in Mumbai on May 2, 2013, to start a new job as staff nurse at the naval hospital INS Ashvini. At the time, everything was looking up for her. "My daughter was a simple, hard-working girl. She had ambitions, and was very happy when she got an appointment letter from the defence ministry. She was among the chosen few who were selected from 15,000 candidates to become Lieutenant Nurse Preeti Rathi. Her salary was to go from Rs 15,000 to Rs 40,000. But this incident happened just as she was about to join the new job," said Rathi.

As soon as Preeti had alighted from the Garib Rath Express at Bandra Terminus, the accused flung acid on her. She fought a long and painful battle for her life before finally succumbing to her burns a month later, on June 1, 2013. But her family's battle for justice went on even longer. About eight months after the incident, the police finally caught up with Ankur and learnt that he was envious of her success. Cops said that although he had an expensive education, he was unemployed, and his parents would often taunt him and compare him to Preeti. So, he decided to take out his frustration on her.

"It's been a long and painstaking wait for justice, and finally there is some good news. I saw my daughter dying in pain before my eyes. Panwar should also suffer. He should be hanged for what he has done," said Rathi, who was accompanying his daughter and also sustained injuries on his hands in the acid attack.

"The sudden events had shocked us and Preeti. After the attack, she couldn't speak, but she could communicate with us by writing. She used to ask 'Why was I attacked? Who did this?'" said Rathi, who knocked on the doors of the Union Home Minister to the State Home Minister until, finally, the Bombay High Court transferred the case from the Government Railway Police (GRP) to the Mumbai Crime Branch, who caught Ankur in January 2014.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)