Man throws acid on wife in Bhagalpur, dies by suicide

Bhagalpur: City police, along with a FSL team, have begun an investigation into an incident in which a man allegedly forced his wife to drink toilet cleaning acid, threw acid on her face and body, and later died by suicide after consuming the same substance late on Thursday night.The incident took place at the couple’s rented house in Premnagar Colony under Industrial police station area. However, it came to light on Friday afternoon after the couple’s children and relatives informed the police.Industrial PS SHO Niraj Kumar said on Saturday, “Prima facie, it appears to be a case stemming from marital discord, but all other possible angles are also being examined.”The woman, Punam Devi (45), runs a private residential school from the rented premises in the Rani Talab locality. Police said her husband, Dulal Poddar (50), first forced her to drink toilet cleaning acid and then threw acid on her face and other parts of her body. After the couple’s children rushed Punam to hospital, Dulal allegedly consumed acid and died shortly thereafter.Local sources said Dulal had been working in Delhi for the past five years and had returned to Bhagalpur on Dec 31. He reportedly brought the toilet cleaning acid with him from Delhi. Late on Dec 31 night, the couple had a quarrel, which allegedly continued intermittently over the next two days. The incident occurred on Thursday after the dispute remained unresolved.Police suspect that Dulal may have brought the acid with the intention of killing his wife and subsequently taking his own life. Sources also said a dispute related to the sale or purchase of land is being discussed in the locality as a possible trigger.The SHO said a postmortem of Dulal’s body was scheduled to be conducted on Saturday. Police and FSL teams have collected evidence and recorded statements of neighbours as well as the couple’s children.Meanwhile, Punam, who sustained severe facial burns and damage to one eye, has been referred to Patna for advanced treatment. Police sources said statements of some schoolchildren present on the premises at the time of the incident are also likely to be recorded.