A 21-year-old woman from Madhya Pradesh’s Panna area had her eyes severely damaged when local members kidnapped her and her brother, beat them up, and then poured an acid-like substance into their eyes.

The woman has been sent to a medical college in Rewa after being admitted to the Panna district hospital.

The woman, a native of Barauha village in Panna district, informed the media that she and her brother were kidnapped by local residents yesterday on suspicion of assisting a village girl in eloping with a guy.

After abducting them, the accused allegedly took them to a forest area and assaulted them. They also harassed the woman and when she objected, poured an acid-like chemical in both her eyes and rubbed them.

“They brutally beat up me and my brother. Later, one of them attacked me with tezab (acid). They later dumped us in the village and escaped,” she told reporters.

Superintendent of Police, Panna district, Dharmraj Meena said police registered a case in the matter and arrested two accused within five hours of the complaint. The accused, he said, were tracked down with the help of the cyber cell.