india

Updated: May 16, 2019 00:11 IST

The 36-year-old tribal woman, who was allegedly brutalised with a piece of metal by her husband, is still in a critical state, doctors at the government-run Maharaja Yeshwantrao (MY) Hospital at Indore said on Wednesday. They are, however, hopeful she will recover soon.

On Tuesday, a team of doctors had removed a 20-cm long grip of a motorcycle handle from her uterus. The alleged assault occurred eight months ago.

Her husband, a labourer, was arrested on Monday under section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which has a provision of seven-year jail term, said city superintendent of police Akhilesh Singh Reinwal.

Speaking over phone from the intensive care unit of the hospital, she said, “I will never forgive my husband for what he has done, but I am worried over future of my six children who are now being forced to fend for themselves as my husband is in jail.”

According to the FIR registered at the Chandan Nagar police station, around eight months ago, the victim had an argument with her husband over his alleged affair with another woman. The husband, in a fit of rage, inserted the metal part inside her. She had been suffering pain for months before getting treatment in a private hospital. In March, the hospital told her to undergo an operation, but she could not for want of money. On Saturday, when her pain became unbearable she came to the Chandan Nagar police station to lodge a complaint, the FIR said.

Reinwal said the victim fell unconscious at the police station and everyone was horrified when they heard her story.“She was in a lot of pain and so we first got her admitted to MY Hospital and then traced her mother,” he said.

Dr Sonia Moses, who operated upon her, said, “No one in MY Hospital has ever dealt with such a case earlier. The metal handle along with the plastic grip on it had damaged her uterus, bladder and bowels. We had to remove the uterus, repair the bladder and mend the perforations in the bowel...There was infection everywhere and it took over four hours to operate. She would have died had we not operated.”

“The next 72 hours are critical, but she will recover,” she added.

She said her daughter told her about the incident around six months back but her husband did not allow her to see doctors fearing arrest. “I had taken a loan of Rs 30,000 from a self-help group for treatment, but police came to my house on Saturday and told me that the government was treating her,” the victim’s mother said.