Acid attack: Girl may lose eyesight (WARANGAL/HYDERABAD)

WARANGAL/HYDERABAD: Even as the outcry of the public enraged over the acid attack on two engineering students spilled on to the roads, it emerged that 22-year-old Kousetti Swapnika might lose the sight of both her eyes as she battled to survive another day in the hospital on Thursday. The police slapped an attempt-to-murder case against the accused, 28-year-old Shakamuri Srinivas, for the heinous crime.

Yashoda Hospital authorities said in Hyderabad that Swapnika’s condition is very critical as she suffered 55 per cent burns. “She suffered severe burn injuries on face, chest, back and thighs. Though she is able to talk in a feeble voice, she could develop complications later,” a hospital official said.

Asked as to why the police are taking time to arrest even after Swapnika had accused Srinivas of carrying out the dastardly attack, Warangal district SP V C Sajjanar said they were interrogating the accused. He said a case under section 307 (read with section 34) was filed at the Kakatiya University campus police station.

Ironically, father of the accused S Singa Rao felt that no punishment was enough for his son, if found guilty, for carrying out the attack. “It is pathetic to see the faces of the victims as I empathise with their parents who are undergoing immense pain,” he said. The accused was reportedly taken into custody by the police late on Wednesday night. The police, however, are tightlipped whether two others who have helped Srinivas in the brazen act are in their custody.

Meanwhile, anguished by the gravity of the attack, students, activists of women’s organisations and people from different walks of life took to the streets, demanding sternest action against the culprits. Students organisations enforced a bandh of all educational institutions in the district, while a majority of the institutions closed voluntarily to express solidarity with the victims and their families.

Student organisations burnt effigies of the accused at various junctions in Warangal. “Srinivas should be made to suffer the same way by pouring acid on him,” N Jyothi, district president of AP Mahila Samakhya, said.