An acid attack on a 3-year-old boy at a restaurant in Istanbul over the weekend turned out to be perpetrated by an acquaintance of the boy's parents. On late Thursday, the attacker was captured by Turkish security forces.
The boy, identified only as Y.K., was among a group of children at the playground of a high-end restaurant in Istanbul's Ataşehir district when an unidentified assailant, who remains at large, sprayed them with nitric acid. Other children sustained slight injuries but the attack left Y.K.'s face severely disfigured and without sight in his right eye.
It was revealed on the same day that the man, originally reported to be the former boyfriend of the attendant of the playground furious over their break-up, was actually an acquaintance of the boy's parents, a lawyer and a psychiatrist. A lawyer for the restaurant chain told Turkish media that the assailant was identified and was someone the parents know, though he did not disclose more details as the investigation is still underway, and he directly targeted the 3-year-old.
Turkish media also reported that the police suspect that security cameras in the area, which were not working at the time of the attack, malfunctioned "due to outside interference" by a hacker.
