A Sikh woman was left blind and scarred for life when her father-in-law, who suspected her of having an affair with a Muslim man, horrifically slit her wrists and stabbed her in both eyes.

Manjit Singh Mirgind, a 51-year-old London native, reportedly threatened to kill his daughter-in-law, Jageer Mirgind, as he savagely beat her in front of his own grandchildren. While the three and six-year-old children begged their grandfather to stop, Mirgind stabbed at his daughter-in-law’s face with the knife, leaving her partially blinded in both eyes. His grandchildren are no longer able to sleep alone, and have experienced recurring nightmares since the attack.

Tragically, the trigger for the brutal violence was a misunderstanding, in which prank calls led Mirgind to believe that his daughter-in-law was having an affair with a Muslim. The crazed grandfather, who appeared in a British court for sentencing following the December attack, accused his daughter-in-law of “sleeping with a paki,” in the midst of the violence, saying she “ruined his family,” MailOnline reports.

Following the brutal blinding, Mirgind left the scene while his wife called for assistance, later turning himself in to police and admitting to everything. A British High Court has sentenced him to ten years and eight months for the crime, at a hearing where the repentant man apologized for the blinding, saying “nothing can excuse what I did.” While Mirgind was originally charged with attempted murder, prosecutors instead accepted a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

According to The Express, Judge Nigel Peters QC said that Mirgind accepted that he had inflicted “the most serious injuries to your daughter-in-law,” calling the attack “manic and horrific.” Yet he pointed out that the blinding claimed three victims:

“What was so distressing was that her children, your grandchildren, witnessed it from start to finish and pleaded with you to stop – but you did not stop. The effect on those children is a major factor in this case as they have been deprived of their mother in a normal state and had to witness those horrific scenes.”

Sickeningly, the incident isn’t the first time such a brutal attack has been in the news. As The Inquisitr reported, a Chinese boy suffered a similar attack last fall when a woman, reported to be his aunt, blinded him. The woman committed suicide after the blinding caused public outrage.

Prosecutor Jonathan Turner highlighted the depth of the woman’s injuries, pointing out that “her right eye has been left with half vision while her wrist has bad mobility and she has scars on her face,” though the real damage likely runs far deeper. While Mirgind will be headed to jail, his daughter-in-law has moved away with the children after the blinding reportedly tore her marriage, and her life, apart.

[Images via MailOnline]