Bulgarian Tourist Attacked with Acid in Varanasi Might Lose Her Eyesight

NEW DELHI: The 23 year old Bulgarian tourist who was attacked with acid in Varanasi now risks losing her eyesight due to severe damage. She has suffered 45 per cent burns to her body covering her chest, abdomen, and legs.

Darya Yurieva had been in India for the last few months and had been staying in Varanasi since August. She had first gone to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and then had come to the holy city; it was there she had met Siddhartha Shrivastav, her would-be assailant.

According to media reports, the accused, 23, had proposed her for marriage much before the attack, to which she had refused. The victim was staying at the house of the accused since her arrival in the city and had travelled to Sikkim and Assam with him.

Yurieva then went to Sikkim one more time recently, this time without the accused and when she returned back she expressed her wish to go back to her country. As it turned out, Srivastav didn’t like her prospect of going back and eventually attacked her fatally with sulfuric acid while she was sleeping.

The victim was taken to a local hospital initially by the landlord’s family at five in the morning. From where she was airlifted in an ambulance to Delhi’s Safdurjung hospital where she is out of danger and is waiting for corrective surgeries.

“Her face, chest, abdomen, back, shoulder, hand and thigh have been affected and she would require several plastic and reconstructive surgeries. It will be difficult to say at this stage how long it will take for her to recover and to what extent. She has suffered deep sulfuric acid burns and each individual’s skin reacts differently to such injuries. It will be at least a week before we get a clear picture on her recovery,” a doctor said to HT.

She also wanted to know whether she will be able to see again, as a told by a nurse.

According to the father of the accused, the victim wasn’t staying at their house as a paying guest but as a friend of their son.

“Siddhartha had completed his graduation from Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth and enrolled in Bachelor of Music (Flute) in BHU. He was a humble boy but seemed to lose interest in studies some time ago” he said.

During search from the scene of crime a receipt for acid purchase was found, and also found was a ticket to Sofia (Bulgaria) for November 18.