In a shocking twist, the father of a 20-year-old Delhi University student who was allegedly attacked with acid was arrested in a rape case on Monday after confessing to orchestrating the attack to frame the main accused, Jitender, sources told India Today TV.
The student’s father, identified as Akil Khan, was arrested after Jitender’s wife accused him of coercing her to have sex with him and sharing her obscene photos with her husband. She filed a rape complaint, leading to the registration of an FIR.
To evade the case, police said, Akil and his daughter fabricated the acid attack story to implicate Jitender and his two aides — Ishan and Arman — in the crime.
Akil’s startling confession came after police earlier said Jitender, along with two associates, attacked the woman near Lakshmibai College in north Delhi’s Ashok Vihar on Sunday. The trio had reportedly fled after throwing acid on her.
According to investigators, Akil admitted that he planned the attack after learning that Jitender’s wife was preparing to file a rape complaint against him. Seeking revenge, he conspired to frame Jitender in a fake acid attack case, sources said.
Police said the woman purchased toilet-cleaning acid and staged the attack with her father’s help.
Akil also had disputes with Jitender’s aides, Ishan and Arman, who were named in the FIR and initially arrested in connection with the acid attack case.
HOW ACID ATTACK CASE TOOK A U-TURN
Delhi Police said they first received a call from Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital reporting the admission of an injured woman from Mukundpur, north Delhi. The woman, a second-year non-collegiate DU student, told police she had gone to Lakshmibai College for an extra class when the incident occurred around 10 am.
According to the police, she initially claimed that as she was walking to college, Jitender, accompanied by Ishan and Arman, arrived on a motorbike. All of a sudden, Arman allegedly threw acid on her after receiving a bottle from Ishan. The student said she managed to shield her face but sustained burns on both hands.
The woman claimed that Jitender had been stalking her and a heated argument had taken place between them about a month ago. Jitender and the student are residents of Mukundpur, police had said.
Police had also cited CCTV footage showing Jitender on a motorbike in an underground parking lot in Karol Bagh on Sunday morning. The bike allegedly used in the attack was later recovered from the area.
However, the investigation took a dramatic turn after Akil’s confession revealed that the acid attack was staged to falsely implicate Jitender and his associates in retaliation for the rape case filed by Jitender’s wife.
According to police, on October 24, two days before the alleged acid attack, Jitender’s wife made a PCR call reporting harassment and blackmail by Akil. She alleged that while working at his factory between 2021 and 2024, Akil sexually harassed her, forcibly established physical relations, and blackmailed her using objectionable photos and videos.
Jitender’s associates Arman and Ishan are currently in Agra with their mother, Shabnam, and are expected to join the investigation soon, police said.
Police said Shabnam informed investigators that she herself was a victim of an acid attack in 2018, allegedly carried out by relatives of Akil Khan. She also told police that she has an ongoing property dispute with Akil over a property in Delhi’s Mangolpuri, which is currently under trial.
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