Delhi ‘acid attack’ that wasn’t: Police expose bizarre plot by daughter to save father accused of sexual assault

Dubai: In one of Delhi’s most shocking turnarounds, police have uncovered that a supposed acid attack on a 20-year-old college student was staged by her own family to protect her father from rape and blackmail charges.

What began as a disturbing case of violence against a young woman near Lakshmibai College in northwest Delhi quickly unravelled into a web of deceit involving multiple family members, property disputes and a desperate attempt to obstruct justice.

According to NDTV and The Times of India, the woman’s father, Aqeel Khan, had been accused of sexually exploiting and blackmailing a woman who once worked at his factory. Two days after the complaint, his daughter claimed she was attacked with acid, naming the complainant’s husband and two of Khan’s relatives as culprits.

Police said Khan’s daughter poured acidic toilet cleaner on her own hands to simulate burns, while her brother helped stage the scene. The attack was meant to frame those involved in separate legal and property disputes with the family.

Special Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Ravindra Singh Yadav told NDTV that investigators soon found inconsistencies in her account — “There were acid traces on the ground, but none on the nearby wall. The injuries were minor, despite claims of critical condition,” he said.

Even as her brother told the media she was “critical”, hospital authorities confirmed her injuries were superficial, consistent with chemical burns caused by self-infliction.

Khan allegedly devised the elaborate ruse to “hit multiple targets with one arrow,” as Yadav put it, attempting to retaliate against both the woman who accused him of rape and relatives who had earlier filed acid-attack and sexual-violence cases against him.

Police verified the supposed attackers’ alibis through CCTV footage, phone tracking and workplace checks, proving they were not present at the scene. The hoax then began to collapse.

The alleged assault was reported at 10.52 am on Sunday, and within just 36 hours, investigators exposed it as a hoax — an unusually swift breakthrough for Delhi Police.

Khan was arrested late Sunday in connection with the rape and blackmail case, and investigators recovered around 60 private photos and videos of the woman who accused him. His daughter, son and brother are also facing action for filing a false case and criminal conspiracy, police confirmed.

Police said Khan was already facing trial in a 2018 acid-attack and sexual-violence case filed by another woman, Shabnam, whose sons were also named in the false complaint — linking two bitter disputes into one elaborate deception.

Authorities called the incident a deeply disturbing misuse of laws meant to protect women, exposing how far some would go to manipulate the justice system.

“The whole thing was fabricated. She poured acid on her own hands and levelled false accusations,” Yadav told NDTV.

The case has reignited debate over the misuse of women-protection laws, even as officers stressed that such rare conspiracies should not overshadow genuine survivors who continue to fight for justice.