A man severely beat up his wife and set her on fire allegedly because she forgot to put salt in a mutton dish she had cooked for him.

The incident took place in the Alamganj Tola locality of Forbesganj town in Araria district of north-eastern Bihar, on Thursday evening. On being informed about the incident, an Araria police team later rescued the victim, identified as Nazrana Khatun (25).

Confirming the incident, Araria superintendent of police (SP) Shivdeep Wamanrao Lande said Khatun had been admitted to a hospital in the neighbouring town of Purnia with more than 40% burn injuries.

He said an FIR naming Khatun's husband Mohammad Guddu Khan as the prime accused had been lodged at the Forbesganj police station.

"The accused is absconding since the incident. We have launched a manhunt to nab him at the earliest," said Lande, who had led the police party that rescued the woman.

Detailing the incident, official sources said Khan, who was very fond of mutton, lost his temper all of a sudden when he found his mutton dish bereft of salt.

Khatun's neighbours told the police that in a fit of rage, Khan threw kerosene at his wife's face and set her on fire. Realising that he could be in serious trouble, Khan then hid Khatun in an abandoned house at Alam Tola.

"On receiving information about the incident, we rushed to the locality and rescued an injured Khatun from the abandoned house after a three-hour search", the Araria SP said.