Ayodhya, Nov 17 (IANS): A 25-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly throwing acid on a woman and her mother in Ayodhya after the former refused his advances towards a romantic relationship.

The accused, Deepak Kumar Pandey of Vedapur village, was arrested from his relative’s place on Thursday.

He committed the crime after coming to know that the 22-year-old woman’s marriage had been fixed with another man.

Following the incident on Wednesday, the woman and her mother (45) were rushed to the King George’s Medical University’s Trauma Centre in Lucknow for better treatment, according to officials.

The incident took place under the Taarun police station limits when the accused sneaked into the victims' house and threw acid on their faces while they were sleeping.

“The acid partially damaged the eyes of the two victims and doctors fear they could lose their vision,” said A.K. Yadav, an inspector at the Taarun police station.

An FIR under IPC sections 442 (criminal house trespass) and 326A (causing hurt by acid attack) has been registered against the accused.

These sections provide for a minimum 10-year jail sentence for the offence of causing hurt by acid attack, extendable to life, and with fine.

The fine will be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses of treatment, said Yadav.