Father-in-law of the victim arrested

Police yesterday arrested the father-in-law of Ripa Rani Pandit in Netrakona town for “pouring acid into Ripa's mouth”. 

Rabindra Pandit was arrested around 4:30am at a bus stand where he was waiting to get on a bus to go to his daughter's house in Kalmakanda upazila, said Abul Bashar, sub-inspector of Kotiadi Police Station in Kishoreganj.

On July 26, Rabindra and his wife Kalyani Pandit poured acid into Ripa's mouth at their house in Kotiadi as her father failed to give them Tk 4 lakh as dowry, alleged the victim's family.

The in-laws admitted Ripa, 23, to Dhaka Medical College Hospital two days later and fled.

The severity of her injury is hard to define because it is mostly internal, doctors said. However, they said Ripa was between life and death and would be kept on a saline drip for the next three weeks. If she improved then only she would be allowed to have food or drink.

On July 31, Ripa's father Shadhon Pandit filed a case against her in-laws and husband Ratan with Kotiadi police.