Indian woman held for acid attack on ex-lover Published duration 18 January 2017

image copyright bangalorenewsphotos image caption Lydia Yeshpaul works as a nurse

A woman has been arrested in the southern Indian city of Bangalore for throwing acid on her ex-boyfriend. (Warning: Some readers may find the image below distressing)

The man recently ended his relationship with the woman after four years.

City police say it is their first case of a woman throwing acid at a man.

Estimates say more than 1,000 acid attacks a year take place in India. In almost all cases men carry out the attacks and women are the victims.

"One can say this is the first case in the West Division of Bangalore police. As per our records of 12 years, there is no other such case of a woman attacking a man with acid," deputy commissioner of police MN Anucheth told BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi.

"The acid fell on the right side of Jayakumar Purushottam's face, burning his ear, cheek and temple."

His eyes were not damaged.

Mr Purushottam, 32, told police that his ex-girlfriend Lydia Yeshpaul, who worked as a nurse, threw acid on him before slashing his face with a scalpel.

He added that Ms Yeshpaul wanted to marry him, but his parents rejected the relationship because the two were from different religions.

She is Christian and he is Hindu.

Mr Purushottam said that he ended the relationship three months ago, and started looking for another girl to marry.

"This infuriated her, leading to the acid attack," he added.

image caption Mr Purushottam is recovering in a local hospital

The attack took place in the street after he had left work.

Passers-by took him to hospital. Lydia Yeshpaul was detained soon after.