Woman Allegedly Poured Hot Oil and Chili Powder on Her Husband as He Slept, Causing 'Dangerous' Injuries By Latoya Gayle

A man is recovering in the hospital after being severely burned when his wife allegedly poured hot oil on him as he was sleeping at their home in India. 

At around 3:15 a.m. local time on Thursday, Oct. 2, Dinesh Kumar was sleeping alongside his wife, Sadhna, and their daughter at their home in Delhi’s Madangir area, when he was suddenly awoken by pain across his face and torso, local outlets Hindustan Times, India Today and NDTV reported. 

The pharmaceutical firm worker, 28, alleges that he then saw Sadhna standing over him with a container of hot oil, threatening, “If you shout, I will pour more oil on you,” per Times of India.

“Before I could get up or call for help, she sprinkled red chilli powder on my burns,” Kumar alleged to police, according to the outlet.

Kumar’s screams were heard by neighbors, who were ignored when they knocked on the couple’s front door, offering help, according to India Today. It wasn’t until the couple’s landlord called his brother-in-law, Ram Sagar, that Kumar was rushed to the hospital, the Hindustan Times reported, citing police.

“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,” she added of the couple.

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Due to the severity of his burns, Kumar was moved from a local hospital to Safdarjung Hospital for treatment, per NDTV. Police told the outlet that his injuries have been described as “dangerous” in the medical report.

Authorities had been alerted to the alleged assault by a medico-legal intimation from Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, according to India Today and the Hindustan Times. Police registered the incident at Ambedkar Nagar police station based on Kumar’s statement and preliminary evidence.

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However, Sadhna has not been arrested at this time as the investigation is in its early stages.

The couple allegedly had previous troubles during their eight-year marriage and had involved law enforcement in their arguments before, per Hindustan Times. However, they continued living together in rented accommodation after reconciling.

It has been alleged that the couple argued before going to sleep on the day of the alleged assault, according to India Today. Kumar told police that he had eaten after returning from work, then went to bed, per NDTV.

“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 told Hindustan Times.

Delhi Police did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for further comment on Monday, Oct. 13.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.