A 27-year-old woman was set on fire near the entrance of the coronation park in Thimphu yesterday around 3pm by her husband.

Thimphu city police’s officer-in-command, Major Wangdi, said that the people who were at the scene and the traffic police officials sent the victim, the husband and their three-year-old daughter to the hospital in a taxi.

“The hospital staff might have said that it’s a police case so by the time our team reached the hospital, the husband disappeared,” Major Wangdi said.

However, the husband was arrested from Paro last night. “He, along with their daughter, is being escorted to the Thimphu police now,” Major Wangdi said.

According to the statement from the victim’s sister, the couple had some misunderstanding and had divorced a month ago. The victim lives in Thimphu with her sister while the husband lives in Paro with their daughter.

“The victim asked the husband to bring their daughter to Thimphu and they met near the coronation park,” Major Wangdi said. “The couple had some argument when the husband poured kerosene on the victim and set her on fire.”

A health official with the national referral hospital said that the victim suffered second-degree burn. About 50 percent of her body including the face, chest, back and abdomen had superficial burns.

The victim is currently in Intensive Care Unit.

Dechen Tshomo

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