AHMEDABAD: A 45-year-old man from the Raikhad area of the city allegedly branded his wife with a hot knife on her private parts, over his suspicion that she was having an

with a friend of hers.

The victim, (40), who lives near Vaishyasabha in Raikhad, stated told police that her husband on Friday heard her talking to a male friend on the phone.

Her husband then listened to a recording of her call and started alleging that she was having an affair. The woman, who has two children, denied that she was having any affair, but her husband got angry and started thrashing her. He kept hitting her and she was thus forced to apologize.

This made him angrier and he started hitting her with a belt. When she fell on floor, half-conscious state, he branded her with hot knife on her private parts, the FIR states.

"On Saturday again, he picked a fight with the complainant and again branded her on her private parts and flogged her on her thighs and buttocks till she fell unconscious," the FIR adds.

The woman on Sunday fled to a relative's place in the Nikol area of the city when her husband went to a wedding in Raikhad. The woman narrated her ordeal to her relatives, who rushed her to the Asarwa Civil Hospital. Doctors at Civil Hospital said that her condition is critical as she has suffered grievous injuries to her private parts.

Gaekwad Haveli police registered a case of

against her husband, who is still absconding.