A 22-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly throwing acid on an underage girl while she was sleeping in her house at a village in Chatra district of Jharkhand.

The girl suffered 80 per cent burns. The mother of the girl also suffered injuries while trying to protect her daughter in the attack that took place on Thursday night.

Police said the girl and the boy were in a love relationship but the parents were against it and the girl had refused to meet the youth. Angered by this, the youth barged into the house at night and threw acid on the girl.

“He escaped after hearing cries of the other members of the family, including the girl’s younger brother and sister. The relatives rushed the girl and mother to Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital in Gaya, Bihar,” said sub divisional police officer of Chatra, Avinash Kumar.

Gaya is 25km away from the village.

“We are trying to shift both the victims to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi. We have managed to nab the accused from his hideout on Friday night,” an official said.

According to sources in the village, the mother and her daughter were sleeping in one room, while the younger son and daughter were sleeping in another room. The youth managed to break open the door and entered the house to throw the acid and fled.

The father of the girl is working in another district and was not present in the house.

The villagers rushed them to the community health centre from where seeing the condition they were referred to the nearby Gaya Medical College.

“The youth had lured the girl to escape with him a few months back but after social pressure the girl returned. After which the girl had stopped meeting the youth. The youth used to threaten to kill her and her family often,” alleged the younger brother of the victim.