Lucknow teen suffers acid attack, loses speech

LUCKNOW: A 14-year-old boy suffered partial loss of speech after three youths poured acid in his mouth when he allegedly refused to bring narcotics for them.
The incident occurred in Faizullahganj area under Madion police station on Wednesday. The matter came to light on Thursday, when family of the boy lodged an FIR. The victim, son of a carpenter, is undergoing treatment at Balrampur hospital.
Doctors said that he is out of danger but they were not sure about the extent of damage caused to his vocal chords and speech.
According to FIR, the victim left home for some work around 10.30am and came back at 3pm. He had covered his mouth with a piece of cloth and was screaming with pain. Since he was not able to communicate what had happened to him, the family rushed him to the hospital where doctors said that his mouth suffered burn injuries due to acid.
Though the victim is not able to speak at present, he informed the police through sign language that three men poured acid in his mouth.
He was not able to give any further details about the incident, but after making much effort he named one Noor as one of the accused. Family members, however, said that they do not recognise any person named as Noor.
However, the boy’s mother claimed that her son was attacked when he refused to supply narcotics to the miscreants.
Station house officer, Madion, Santosh Kumar said that inquiries revealed that Noor lives in Faizullaganj.
Noor was picked up and his photo was shown to victim who identified him as one of the assailants. Noor was then arrested and booked for voluntary causing grievous hurt. He is being interrogated and hunt for two others is underway.
“However, we still do not know the motive behind the attack because Noor is denying his involvement,” Kumar added. Locals said that a lot of drug peddlers operate in the area and it could be their handiwork.
“We are verifying the facts,” he added.