Man tries to set estranged wife ablaze at bus stop

Around 8 am on Wednesday, Sarita Thakur, 33, was waiting for a bus at Suman Nagar bus stop to leave for her job as a nanny. The accused, Sanjay Thakur, who had earlier had a fight with her about not returning home to him, approached her and poured kerosene on her back.

Mumbai: A 37-year-old man tried to set his estranged wife ablaze near a bus stop in Kurla East on Wednesday. Fortunately, an auto drivers who was present at the spot rushed the woman to hospital in time and she escaped the attack with 10% burns. Police traced the accused and arrested him later in the day.

The couple, who got married 13 years ago, had been living separately since the last year and a half. They have four daughters aged between 9 and 3 but Thakur always wanted a son. “This not only caused fights between the couple, but Thakur would often get violent towards her. With her family’s support, Sarita moved out of their home and rented another house where she lived with her daughters,” said PI Saudagar. (HT PHOTO)

Around 8 am on Wednesday, Sarita Thakur, 33, was waiting for a bus at Suman Nagar bus stop to leave for her job as a nanny. The accused, Sanjay Thakur, who had earlier had a fight with her about not returning home to him, approached her and poured kerosene on her back. He then used a lighter to try and set her on fire. While some sparks singed her back, before Thakur could do any more damage, auto driver Mohammed Ismail Sheikh, who was nearby, leapt to her rescue and helped douse the fire, police said. In this melee, Thakur escaped.

Sheikh then took the woman to Sion Hospital in his auto. “She was admitted to the emergency department and doctors said she has sustained 10% burns,” said senior police inspector Md Yusuf Majid Saudagar of Nehru Nagar police. He said that the brother of the woman approached the police on Thursday after which a search for the husband was initiated.

The couple, who got married 13 years ago, had been living separately since the last year and a half. They have four daughters aged between 9 and 3 but Thakur always wanted a son. “This not only caused fights between the couple, but Thakur would often get violent towards her. With her family’s support, Sarita moved out of their home and rented another house where she lived with her daughters,” said PI Saudagar.

Sarita’s brother Amar Singh told the police that after she moved out, Sanjay would often come to Sarita’s place drunk. “He would threaten to kill her or the girls, waving knives or broken glass bottles at them. On Wednesday, he had come early in the morning while my sister was in a rush to leave for work. He told her to return home with the kids, she refused. He then said her refusal meant that she was having an affair with another man and this led to another fight,” he said.

Thakur was arrested on charges of attempt to murder, intentionally insulting someone to provoke them and criminal intimidation.