IMPHAL, September 1: Viliya Raikhan, 25, a pregnant housewife who was admitted to RIMS hospital for severe burns had told family members that she had been pushed to the brink of suicide following severe abuse and torture from her husband.
Following her statement, her husband Nimpangshang,27, s/o Ningreion of Lunghar village has been arrested from the RIMS hospital ward where his wife is presently being treated at around 3 pm today.
According to Viliya’s testimony, Nimpangsang is an alcoholic and has had many affairs with other women. There have been some domestic troubles brewing for some time with the couple. On August 25, there was a heated argument at the rented house located at Ukhrul Viewland. The husband in an intoxicated state had beaten her and severely abused her.
Viliya was pushed to the edge of contemplating suicide with her husband’s ill treatment. She had told him that she will immolate herself which her husband replied to carry out and that he did not care.
Later, the woman doused herself with kerosene and lit herself. According to Viliya, her husband had watched her burn for more than 2 minutes. Later, as she cried out in pain and the neighbors rushing out, her husband beat out the flames with a blanket.
She was rushed to RIMS hospital suffering 95 percent burns all over her body. She was also seven months pregnant. After treatment, she also gave birth to a still born.
In the meanwhile several women right based organizations namely, Women Action for Development have condemned the incident as gross violence and urged the responsible authorities to deliver justice. Secretary of the organization Sobita told IFP that such violence is rampantly occurring in both valley and hills, and the sad issue of Viliya is only the tip of the iceberg.
She also stated that there is a time lapse from the police in investigating the case.
“The guilty individual should be given exemplary punishment so it may deter similar incidents from happening in future”, she said.