In a heinous act, a man hacked off his wife’s hand from the wrist on Monday to prevent her from applying for a state government nursing position.
Sariful Sheikh, a resident of Ketugram in the East Burdwan district, slashed his wife Renu Khatun’s hands. Worst of all, he admitted his wife to a local hospital on Monday morning following the violent attack, but kept the severed body part hidden at his home to prevent doctors from reattaching it.
Renu Begum, who was severely injured, was taken to the Katwa Sub-Divisional Hospital, which referred her to the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, where she is being treated under strict medical care. The police have started looking for Sariful Sheikh and his family members after receiving complaints from the victim’s father. “They are still on the loose,” police stated. We’ve filed charges against the husband and his family members for attempted murder, criminal intimidation, voluntary infliction of bodily harm with sharp instruments, and husband subjecting the woman to cruelty (under IPC Sections 307, 506, 323 & 326, 498 A).”
Local residents told the police that Renu Khatun was undergoing nursing training and was working as a nursing assistant at a private hospital in the nearby industrial township of Durgapur. Recently, she got a state government appointment too, which made her husband furious.
Locals said that since Sariful was himself unemployed, he feared that his wife would abandon him after getting the government job. There were frequent quarrels between the couple on this count, as Sariful was insisting that she not accept the job. However, Renu Khatun did not agree.
Finally, on Monday, Sariful took the drastic step.
Ripon Sheikh, her elder brother, told media persons that since the time her sister got the state government appointment letter, Sher Mohammad insisted that she reject that offer.
“However, my sister always dreamt of pursuing a nursing career and she refused. We never knew that Sher Mohammad’s feeling of insecurity will take such a tragic turn,” he said.
Last night, when Renu was asleep, Sariful chopped off the wrist of Renu with a sharp-edged weapon. He’d used a pillow to press the arms of his sleeping wife before chopping.
