Dinesh Kumar, 28, suddenly woke up with pain across his face and torso, and told police he found his wife Sadhna standing over him with a tub of hot oil and threatening to ‘pour more’ if he failed to stay quiet
A man is in hospital with severe burns after his wife allegedly poured hot oil on him as he slept before sprinkling red chilli powder on the scalded areas.
Dinesh Kumar was asleep next to his wife Sadhna and their daughter when he suddenly woke up with pain across his face and torso, and found Sadhna standing over him with a tub of hot oil. He claims she then threatened him, telling him: “If you shout, I will pour more oil on you.” Dinesh said he was attacked at around 3:15am local time at the couple’s home in Dehli, India. “Before I could get up or call for help, she sprinkled red chilli powder on my burns,” he told the Times of India. Dinesh, a pharmaceutical firm worker, was heard screaming by neighbours, who grew worried and knocked on the couple’s front door, offering help, but were ignored. The couple’s landlord then called Dinesh’s brother-in-law, Ram Sagar, which led to him being rushed to the hospital, police said.
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“On the day of the incident, we heard Dinesh screaming,” the landlord’s daughter, Anjali, told India Today TV. “When we went upstairs, his wife wasn’t opening the door, and he was badly burnt. He kept saying that his wife had poured hot oil and chilli powder on him. They had moved into our house around seven months ago.”
Dinesh was left severely injured and had to be moved from a local hospital to New Dehli’s Safdarjung Hospital for treatment. Police said his wounds have been described as “dangerous” according to his medical report.
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Officers registered the incident at Ambedkar Nagar police station, taking a statement from Dinesh as well as preliminary evidence. They have not arrested Sadhna as the investigation is in its early stages.
The couple had reportedly struggled to see eye to eye during their eight-year marriage and had called the police over past arguments, according to the Hindustan Times. It has been claimed that the couple were arguing before bed on the night of the alleged assault. Kumar told police that he had come home from work, had something to eat and then went straight to bed.
“Our investigation revealed that the woman had earlier filed a complaint against her husband at the Crime Against Women (CAW) Cell two years ago. The matter was resolved, but she filed another complaint a few weeks ago,” an officer said.