IANS/Mumbai
A nurse from Delhi who was attacked with acid in Mumbai on May 2 died yesterday, her family said.
Preeti Rathi died in a private hospital.
“Doctors removed the ventilator and other medical aids, which kept her alive, around 4pm,” her father Amar Singh Rathi said.
Acid was thrown on Rathi, 25, by some unknown people as she got off the New Delhi-Mumbai Garib Rath Express at Bandra Terminus on May 2 morning. She had come to Mumbai to join the army hospital.
She was on a ventilator for the past two weeks as her right lung had collapsed and the left one was only partly functional.
According to doctors, her survival chances were as slim as 5%, given the extent of internal injuries, damage to vital organs and bleeding following the attack.
Acid had entered her oesophagus, windpipe and trachea.
She was initially treated for burns and other complications at the Masina Hospital in Byculla and then shifted to Bombay Hospital, New Marine Lines, on May 18 for advanced treatment.
Doctors prioritised efforts to keep her alive and attempted corrective surgery on her, but abandoned the operation at the last minute due to internal bleeding.
Amar Singh had petitioned Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil and state Director General of Police Sanjeev Dayal last fortnight, asking that the probe into the attack be taken away from the Government Railway Police (GRP).
“We want it to be handed over to either the state Crime Investigation Department or the Central Bureau of Investigation as the GRP are not investigating it properly,” Amar Singh claimed in his petition.
He alleged that the GRP had wrongfully arrested a man and was yet to track down the real culprit.