According to the police, Naidu, a marine engineer by profession, had married Bharti in 2000, but the couple’s marital life was fraught with problems because of Naidu’s drinking habits and his incessant demand for dowry. He used to be away from home for several months of the year and reportedly earned a salary of around Rs 1.5 lakh.

“Naidu and his wife Bharti had a fight on the night of December 28. He dragged her by the hair and pushed her on a burning stove. She suffered over 65 per cent burn injuries on the chest and shoulders and was rushed to the Airoli Burns Hospital by her neighbours. Few days later we recorded her complaint and booked Naidu for attempt to murder and dowry harassment. However, as soon as he learnt that we were on a lookout to arrest him, he absconded,” said Bhandup police station’s senior police inspector Prakash Jadhav.

 While Bharti underwent treatment for her burns, the police grilled Naidu’s brother Rangappa, also a Bhandup resident, for clues about his whereabouts.

“For four days after the incident, my brother continued to stay in Bhandup and even visited Bharti in the hospital. However, not wanting to face his in-laws when they arrived, he left without telling anyone and did not contact us after that. He suddenly turned up at my house a couple of days ago but I told him to leave. Soon after he left, the police arrived at my house and accused me of withholding information from them. I handed over a hotel receipt that Naidu had left behind and they traced him to his hotel room on Wednesday,” said Rangappa.

  The police feel that the most significant piece of evidence in the case is the statement of the couple’s seven-year-old daughter. “The girl had seen her father grip her mother by her hair and drag her towards the kitchen where he pushed her on a burning stove. She saw the mother lying on the floor writhing in pain before the neighbours rushed in. We have taken her statement and she told us the exact sequence of events,” said Police inspector Ramesh Sangle, who is investigating the case.

  However, Naidu’s family has refuted all allegations against him stating that it was a conspiracy on the part of Bharti’s family to malign him.

“The police complaint says that he ‘harassed’ Bharti for money, but Naidu earned a decent salary and even owned a house in Chennai, which was in Bharti’s name. Even when Bharti was admitted to the Airoli Hospital, he deposited a sum of Rs 1.2 lakh for her treatment, despite being out of service for seven months due to medical ailment. In fact, Bharti in her first statement to the police had stated that the incident had happened accidentally,” said Rangappa.

Sangle confirmed that when the police had first spoken to Bharti, she had been hesitant to pursue a criminal complaint as she felt that her marriage and their daughter’s future would be affected.