Pollachi: A 40-year-old labourer set his wife on fire because she pestered him to take her to their native village for Pongal festival.
The police have launched a search for the labourer, M.Kumar, who doused his wife Uma Maheswari with kerosene and set her ablaze as their two sons Maruthupandi 13, Veerapandi, 11, in Kullakapalayam were sleeping in their
house on Monday night.
Police said that Kumar had abused and quarreled with his 34-year-old wife Uma Maheswari as she asked him to take the family to their native
village. Kumar told her that he had no money for the Pongal trip.
After an argument, Umamaheswari went to sleep with her sons. Around midnight, Kumar picked up the kerosene can, emptied the fuel on his sleeping wife and set her on fire. As she screamed for help, Kumar fled from the house.
Neighbours who heard her cries rescued her and took her to a nearby hospital.
Later, she was shifted to the Government hospital in Coimbatore. With 60 per cent burns, she is battling for life at the government hospital. Police have launched a hunt for her husband.
