An unknown man with an orange hoodie and a face mask had hurled a bottle of corrosive agent on the two schoolgirls waiting for their class to begin at a tuition centre on Sunday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Bed Bahadur Bista of the Metropolitan Police Circle, says that the investigation is under way and that the police have questioned some people of interest but they have not yet zeroed in on a particular individual.

“We raised the issue at the meeting of the Nepali Congress (NC) Central Working Committee as well. The response both from the government and our party has been positive. So, we are hopeful that the state will act with high level of sensitivity,” said Namindra Raj Joshi, member of the State Management Committee and a NC leader.

The inability of the police to find the assailant(s) has placed the Home Ministry in an unenviable position. The public are finding it hard to believe that no suspects are in custody as four days have passed since the attack.

In a press statement, Sankalpa, an alliance of organisations advocating women rights, said on Wednesday that the acid attack has left a lot of women and girls feeling unsafe. The UCPN (Maoists) echoed similar sentiment in a separate press release. “Incidents like the acid attack on Sunday show that our cities are unsafe for girls and children,” it reads.

Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN) demanded that the government remember its commitment to a child-friendly city and the Supreme Court’s order last year to draft and implement laws against gender-based violence and discrimination.