Preeti Rathi acid attack: Mumbai court convicts ‘jealous neighbour’ of murder

Rathi had died of multiple organ failure after Panwar attacked her with acid in May 2013 for declining his marriage proposal.

Mumbai: A Sessions Court on Tuesday convicted Ankur Panwar, the accused in the Preeti Rathi acid attack case, under Sections 302 (Punishment for murder) and 326 B (Punishment for attempted acid throwing) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“Preeti was murdered by an acid attack inflicted by her jealous neighbour,” the court ruled. Panwar will be sentenced tomorrow.

On May 2, 2013, acid was flung at Rathi when she got down from Garib Rath Express at the Bandra Terminus. Rathi, who hailed from Delhi, was supposed to join Colaba Naval hospital (INS Ashwini) as a staff nurse.

Having suffered severe damage to the lungs, she succumbed at the Bombay Hospital here on June 1. According to the police, Panwar procured the acid on April 2 and boarded the same train by which Rathi and her family were travelling. He was travelling ticket-less.

He got the opportunity to throw acid at her when the train arrived at Bandra Terminus. With his face covered by a handkerchief, Panwar managed to escape after the attack and took the same train back home.

As per reports, in 2013, Rathi secured a nursing job with the Ministry Of Defence at the INHS Asvini Hospital in Colaba, Mumbai. However, Panwar was unhappy with Rathi shifting to Mumbai.

Special public prosecutor (SPP) Ujwal Nikam argued that Panwar wanted to marry Rathi, but the latter declined his proposal as she wanted to pursue her career.

Angered by her refusal, Panwar even tried to stop Rathi from taking up the job. Brushing aside his objections, Rathi finally left for Mumbai on May 1, 2013.

Outside the court, Panwar's mother Kailash demanded a CBI inquiry claiming her son had been falsely implicated. -"We have been implicated just because we were poor. I want a CBI inquiry into the case,-" she said.

Meanwhile, Rathi's father Amar Singh Rathi hoped Panwar was awarded capital punishment. -"It took 3 years for us to get justice but I am happy that it has been finally delivered. I hope he gets death sentence,-" he said. (This article first appeared in Deccan Chronicle)