Victim fighting for life; husband arrested
Police on Friday night arrested a 35-year-old man for setting his wife on fire leaving her critically injured in Chattogram’s Rangunia upazila.
The victim, 30, was fighting for her life. She was first admitted to the burn unit of Chattogram Medical College Hospital and referred to Dhaka yesterday evening for better treatment, said CMCH sources.
The arrestee is Salimullah Rafel, a sand trader in Rangunia upazila and also a former secretary of Swecchasebak League of an union under the upazila, said police. The attack was carried out over family feud, they added.
The brutal incident took place in Sandwip area on Thursday night and police arrested the husband after the victim’s father filed a case against him with Rangunia police station on Friday evening, Anwar Hossain Shamim, assistant superintendent of police (Rangunia circle), told The Daily Star.
Citing the case statement and quoting the victim’s family members, the ASP said Rafel and the victim married seven years ago and have a four-year-old child. For the last few months, Rafel had allegedly been involved in an extramarital affair and torturing his wife over dowry, he said.
“On Thursday evening, Rafel started beating her up following altercations and at one point, he poured petrol on her private parts and set her on fire,” he said. “He not only did the heinous act but also called her father over phone and bragged about it. He then asked him to come and take his daughter.”
The victim’s family members rushed to the spot and took her to Rangunia Health Complex from where she was referred to the CMCH burn unit.
The police official also said one of Rafel’s relatives had tried to rescue the victim hearing her screams, but he was driven out from their home. “She had to endure the inhuman torture for hours.”
“Police are giving all sorts of support to the victim and her family,” he added.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/news/man-sets-alight-wife-petrol-1998949
