Three Dalit girls targeted in ‘acid attack' in Indian state at centre of caste tensions

Indian state of Uttar Pradesh sees another case of violence against the marginalised Dalit community

Indians hold placards as they protest against the alleged gang rape and killing of a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday 10 October, in Gauhati (AP)

Police say three girls from the Dalit (formerly Untouchable) community have been targeted in a possible acid attack while they were sleeping in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The three girls are sisters, and were asleep on the top floor of their home in the village of Paraspur when the attack took place at around 1.30am.

The two younger girls, aged eight and 12, received minor injuries while the eldest, 17, suffered disfiguring wounds to her face. All three have been admitted to the local hospital for treatment.

Police told The Independent that they are investigating the possibility that the attacker was known to the family. The Additional Superintendent of the Gonda district police, Mahendra Kumar, said they have four teams working on the case and await the statement of the girls to proceed with their investigation.

While the family has alleged it was an acid attack, Kumar said the police are yet to identify which chemical was used in the attack and are carrying out a forensic examination.

The father of the girls, Ram Avatar, said in a statement to the police and local media that he was sleeping on the verandah while the three girls were asleep on the roof of the house on Monday night.

“When my daughters screamed, I immediately opened the door and grabbed one of them. When my vest burned, I got to know that somebody had thrown acid at them,” he told a local TV news channel.

The father said the family had no animosity with anyone else in the village, and he could not think why his daughters would be attacked.

Uttar Pradesh state is already at the centre of national tensions surrounding the rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, a case which has dominated the news amid allegations of police mishandling the case and targeting protesters with arrest.

The Dalit community is the lowest of the four major divisions in the Hindu caste system, and are included in a group known as Scheduled Castes who are provided additional protections in Indian law. They comprise about 16 per cent of the total Indian population according to the 2011 census. The community still battles discrimination in various forms and has long been at the receiving end of caste-based violence in India.