Thrissur: A man set ablaze his estranged wife by pouring petrol over her at Kundukadavu, Puthukkad, on Sunday. Jeethu, 29, the victim, who suffered 80 per cent burns, is battling for her life at Thrissur Medical College. The accused, Pazhappilli Biraj, 39, is absconding. Jeethu was living separate from her husband at her house at Kodali, a few km from Kundukadavu, due to domestic issues and they had filed a mutual divorce petition.
She was allegedly having a relationship with another person, said Puthukkad police. The incident happened when Jeethu was coming out of a Kudumbasree meeting held at a house where she paid money for a loan she had taken. She had come in an autorickshaw accompanied by her father and they were about to return in the vehicle when she was attacked.
Her husband, who was waiting outside the house with a can of petrol, poured it over her and lit her up. Jeethu was first rushed to a private hospital at Chalakudy and shifted to Thrissur Medical College. Puthukkad SI S.P. Sudheeran said that Biraj, who fled the scene after the crime, may surrender on Tuesday. The police has slapped IPC section 307 for attempt to murder against him. The couple have no children. Biraj was working in a Gulf country as a fitter and welder. Jeethu, a shop assistant, had developed a relationship with a man on Facebook.
