Two Women Horrifically Burnt in Acid Attack on East Street

September 6, 2025

Two young women were left screaming in agony after a horrifying acid attack in broad daylight on East Street, Georgetown, on Wednesday, September 3.

The victims have been identified as Jillicia Leitch, 25, of Tuschen Housing Scheme, West Coast Demerara, and Nirmala Sukraj, 20, of Good Hope Phase 1, East Coast Demerara.

Both women are employed as cashiers at the Balwant Singh Hospital.

Nirmala and Jillicia in happier times

According to Leitch, they had left the hospital around 2:00 p.m. to buy lunch at a supermarket not far away, when a man dressed in brown clothing suddenly approached and hurled a corrosive liquid at them.

“I don’t know if he came from behind, but he threw something on the girl beside me and when she moved, some splashed onto me—on my right arm, face, and neck,” Leitch recounted, still in visible pain.

Within seconds, the women felt their skin searing as the substance—believed to be acid—ate into their flesh.

In panic, they bolted in opposite directions, desperately crying for help.

Leitch ran into a nearby bar, but instead of assistance, she was chased out while begging for water.

“They pushed me out of the store and locked up,” she said tearfully.

She later collapsed outside a Chinese supermarket, where bystanders rushed to her aid, pouring bottles of water over her blistering wounds.

Sukraj managed to stagger back to Balwant Singh Hospital, where she received emergency care.

Leitch was later rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), where doctors told her she may have been burned with battery acid. She remains hospitalised in serious condition.

The day after the attack, police at the Alberttown Police Station told the women that CCTV footage had led investigators to a vehicle suspected to be linked to the crime.

The car, reportedly owned by an East Coast mechanic, was identified, but the alleged driver remains at large.

According to one of the victims, officers initially claimed that a suspect had been arrested, but they were later informed that no arrest had in fact been made.

The vicious assault has left both women traumatised.