Jasuben Parmar waits with her mother outside the burns unit of Mumbai's Kasturba Hospital, where her 30-year-old sister, Hansa Patel, is admitted.

Police say that on Tuesday Hansa was standing at a bus stop in Goregaon, when a 30-year-old electrician, whose marriage proposal she had rejected, came with one of his friends and threw acid on her. Three more persons were injured. They were all taken to Cooper Hospital and later shifted to Kasturba.

Hansa had known him for some time, but she turned him down because of his aggressive and violent streak.

The police said the accused had earlier gone to Hansa's house and threatened to set her ablaze.

Jasuben and her mother look very nervous and they run towards the ward when they see a nurse coming out of it.

But only the mother is allowed to go in and visit Hansa for a few minutes.

Hansa is a hardworking woman and her she stays with her family in Andheri.

Two of her sisters also live with them and one of them has two children. The whole family is dependent on Hansa's earnings.

Her father died 12 years ago. A couple of years ago the family decided that it was time to get Hansa married. But she postponed her wedding to take care of her siblings and mother.

Jasuben says, "Although our younger sister is also working, she earns very little as compared to Hansa. This incident has paralysed us."

"I don't know why this has happened. She is very simple and decent."