A 28-year-old man in India is in an ICU, recovering after a shocking attack. While Dinesh Kumar lay sleeping, his wife reportedly attacked him with hot oil. She also allegedly stopped their neighbors from helping her husband as he screamed in pain. Thus far, no one knows what made the woman decide to burn her husband in the middle of the night, but the couple seems to have a complicated history of possible abuse, so there is definitely more to the story.
Dinesh Kumar was sleeping in bed alongside his 4-year-old daughter about 3:15 a.m. on October 2, 2025. Suddenly, the man woke up to a “burning sensation,” seeing his wife, Sadhna, standing over him, the Hindustan Times reported. The woman reportedly had poured hot oil onto his torso and face.
“Before I could get up or call for help, she sprinkled red chilli powder on my burns,” he alleged in a police complaint. As he began to react, Sadhna allegedly said to him “if you shout, I will pour more oil on you,” NDTV reported. The pain was too much to bear, and he began to scream. The noise alerted the neighbors, who rushed to help.
“On the day of the incident, we heard Dinesh screaming,” a woman named Anjali, who is the daughter of the family’s landlord, 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,” she continued.
The family has lived in the apartment for about seven months.
After his wife’s refusal to open the door, the landlord reached out to the brother-in-law of Dinesh Kumar, Anjali explained. The man took him to a hospital. Seeing the severity of the burns on his face, arms and torso, he was transferred to Safdarjung Hospital.
Police say that according to a medical report, Kumar’s injuries are considered “dangerous.”
Currently, it’s not known what caused the woman to attack her husband, but according to multiple outlets, the couple has a history of marital conflict. Over the course of their eight-year marriage, fights have been common.
“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.
According to a report from the Times of India, the woman has been charged with voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt using dangerous weapons or means, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by acid, and mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance. Thus far, no arrest has been made.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of domestic abuse, you can find help and support at DVIS.org, the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or by contacting your local women’s shelter (domesticshelters.org).
