A 38-year-old man who allegedly went absconding after pouring boiling oil on his wife and 13-year-old daughter last Sunday has been arrested.
The incident had occurred at the family’s home in LR Nagar, near Adugodi, on the night of January 30, police said.
Thomas, a painter by profession, allegedly knocked out his wife Anthoniyamma by hitting her on the head with a sturdy piece of wood and then poured piping hot cooking oil on her body parts.
Their teenage daughter, who was sleeping in a separate room, woke up after hearing her mother’s shrieks. When she tried to save her mother, Thomas poured the same oil on her hand. The mother and the daughter’s screams drew neighbours, forcing Thomas to flee.
Anthoniyamma is presently undergoing treatment in the burns ward of Victoria Hospital while the daughter is recovering at home.
Adugodi police, who took up a case of attempted murder against Thomas, tracked him down on Tuesday, and a court has remanded him in judicial custody, said Srinath Mahadev Joshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast). The couple often fought because Thomas suspected that his wife was having an affair, the officer added.
Police said Thomas had fought with Anthoniyamma a few hours earlier, too, that night but neighbours had forced him out of the house. He later returned — heavily drunk — and brought along about half a litre of cooking oil, which he subsequently heated up in a pan and poured on his unconscious wife.