Kasaragod: A man who had allegedly been stalking a woman threw acid on her inside her fancy shop, and later died by suicide in East Eleri panchayat, Kasaragod, on Wednesday.

The victim, Sindhu Mol (44), also known as Bindu, suffered burns on the left side of her face, eye, neck, and thighs. She is under treatment at Government Medical College, Pariyaram, Kannur. 

"Doctors say they need three to four days to assess the depth of her burns. We’re worried about her eyesight," said her sister, Uma Gangadharan.

The attacker Ratheesh (34), was known locally as "Pachari Ratheesh" because he once worked at a ration shop, was relentlessly stalking Sindhu Mol and threatening to throw acid on her, said Uma. "She had even filed a police complaint against him," she said.

After the incident, while police were searching for him, he was found hanging from a tree in a nearby plot, said Chittarikkal Station House Officer, Inspector Ranjith Raveendran.

The inspector said Ratheesh and Sindhu Mol lived in the same neighbourhood and were once "close friends". But after a fallout, he started harassing her. She had filed a police complaint against him a few months ago. "They had settled the issue," the inspector claimed.

But Sindhu Mol’s sister Uma said Ratheesh had repeatedly threatened her in the past week. He rammed his bike into her scooter a few days ago, she said. On May 5, he came to her store and threatened to throw acid at her. "She went to the police station again. And on Wednesday, he came back, asked her if she would complain to the police, and threw the acid on her," Uma said.

The inspector, however, said no fresh complaint was filed last week. Yet, residents confirmed Ratheesh had openly threatened Sindhu Mol.

He was working as a daily wage labourer with a borewell company. "He was strong, could handle three or four people, but maybe he couldn’t handle her rejection," said an elderly neighbour who knew them since childhood.

Sindhu Mol has two daughters who are studying BSc Nursing and BBA. Her husband runs a tyre retreading shop in Kannur's Peringome, 12 km from Kamballur.

This is the second such attack on a woman shopkeeper in Kasaragod in just one month.

On April 8, Ramamrutham (56), a furniture shop owner in Mannadukkam, Bedadka panchayat, poured thinner on C Ramitha (30), a grocer next door, after she complained about his abusive behaviour. Police issued a warning but released him. Ramitha, the mother of a 10-year-old boy, died seven days later from severe burns. Ramamrutham, from Tamil Nadu, told police he acted in a drunken rage.