Girl slashes wrists to evade arrest

A 19-year-old girl slashed her wrists here to evade arrest after she connived with her friends to throw acid on a youth she loved. The youth had broken up with her.

"The accused, Gwendoline Noronha, apparently attempted suicide to evade arrest and gain sympathy," Crime Branch Deputy Commissioner of Police Deven Bharati told IANS on Saturday.

Noronha has been rushed to the state-run GT hospital in south Mumbai where her condition is described as "stable". She will be presented before a holiday magistrate Sunday.

Noronha, a student of St. Andrews College, Bandra, convinced her friends, Saby Abraham and Keyur Parmar, to throw acid on Vivek Patel, her boyfriend.

The incident occurred on the night of December 28, 2007. Abraham and Parmar were arrested on Friday. They were presented before a magistrate court on Saturday afternoon and remanded to police custody till April 16.

Noronha was in love with Patel but he broke off with her due to family objections. Noronha, stung by his rejection, decided to teach him a lesson and sought Abraham and Parmar's help.

She told Abaraham that Patel raped her and then refused to marry her. Abraham, who was apparently secretly in love with Noronha, immediately agreed to join the conspiracy and roped in Parmar.

Parmar, a student from Ahmedabad, bought a bottle of acid which was then thrown on Patel.

Patel was admitted to the intensive care unit of Bhatia Hospital, in south Mumbai, after he sustained severe burn injuries on his arm. He survived the attack.