Man Sets 4-Year-Old Daughter On Fire After Quarrel With Wife Over 'Affair'

A man in India has been arrested for setting his 4-year-old daughter on fire after an argument with his wife, police said.

The suspect, 35-year-old Sanju Turi, from Kocha Barnag village in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, was arrested after he allegedly attacked his child, Sumari Kumari, setting her ablaze, The Times of India reported.

Turi was reportedly in an inebriated state when he got into an argument with his wife, 30-year-old Heera Devi, on Oct.7. He then attempted to attack his wife with a knife on suspicion of her having an extramarital affair, police said. However, Devi managed to escape the attack by locking herself in another room. In a fit of rage, Turi caught hold of the couple's daughter, poured kerosene on her, and set her alight, reports said.

The little girl was eventually rescued after neighbors heard her cries and responded to the house. The girl was then rushed to a nearby hospital and later shifted to a specialty center where she is receiving treatment for her injuries.

"The victim was brought on Friday at 10 p.m with 80% burn injuries. Her condition was critical," Dr. Sudama Prasad, a medic who treated the girl said, local news outlet Latest LY reported.

Meanwhile, police officials said the suspect who fled the scene after the incident was taken into custody. He is being interrogated in connection with the incident. However, the charges against him are not known.

In a similar incident early this month, a woman in India succumbed to death after her husband allegedly set her ablaze along with their two young daughters. Police registered a case against the suspect, Prasad Shantaram Patil, after his wife 35-year-old, Preeti Shantaram Patil, died of burn injuries, and the couple's two daughters, Sameera, 14, and Samiksha, 11, were hospitalized with 90% burns.

Investigators believe that Prasad, who had an affair with another woman, plotted to kill his family to get rid of them. He also attempted to stage the fire as an accident but got injured while he was setting his family on fire, police said.