Russian woman acid attack: Accused held, victim to be shifted

The accused in an alleged acid attack on a Russian national in Nand Nagar colony area, has been arrested here when he went to visit the victim in the hospital.
Siddharth Srivastava, who had fled to Allahabad after committing the crime, was nabbed yesterday when he came back to visit the 23-year-old victim in the hospital here, Varanasi SSP, Akash Kulhary said.
Addressing a press conference here today, Kulhary clarified that the victim had dual citizenship of Russia and Bulgaria and was living with the accused as his friend, and not as a paying guest.
A guilt-ridden Srivastav who was also present at the conference said, "I really feel shameful for my act, I don't know whether I would ever be able to meet her in my life.

"I threw acid on her in a fit of rage as she was not willing to talk to me. I was disappointed with her decision to go back to her nation. Though she had turned down my marriage proposal, I was fine with it, but I did not want her to go away," he said.
Meanwhile, the victim who suffered 46 per cent burn injuries on her face and body in the attack, will soon be shifted to New Delhi for better treatment.

"The foreign national is currently undergoing treatment at Sir Sunder Lal Hospital of BHU here. Her condition is stated to be stable but she will be shifted to the national capital for better care," Kulhary said.

Giving further details, Kulhary said that the duo had travelled together to Sikkim, Ladakh and Assam recently, but it was not known whether they were in a relationship.
The woman was set to return to her country on November 18, but her ticket got cancelled, he said.
The victim during her stay at the accused's house, had becomeclose to Srivastava, who is a student of music at Banaras Hindu University.