BENGALURU: A 26-year-old nurse was critically injured after her estranged husband allegedly attacked her with weapons and threw an acid-like chemical at her in the basement parking area of a private hospital, in JP Nagar police station limits, on Thursday morning.
Police have taken the accused into custody.
The victim, Madhumitha, from West Bengal, works as a nurse at Narayana Hospital in JP Nagar. The accused, Venkatesan, is a resident of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, and works for an oil and gas company based in Chennai. The couple married in 2024 in Madurai after meeting through a dating app. Following marital disputes, they had been living separately for the past year.
DCP (South) K Vamsi Krishna told reporters that Venkatesan had travelled more than 400km from Madurai to Bengaluru on a motorcycle on Wednesday night. The incident occurred between 9am and 9.15am on Thursday, when Madhumitha stepped out of the hospital for breakfast.
Venkatesan allegedly confronted her in the hospital’s basement parking area and attacked her with two weapons -- a machete and a smaller knife. He allegedly threw some liquid at her, which is suspected to be an acid-like substance or floor cleaning chemical. The Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) team visited the spot and collected evidence. Police are verifying the nature of the substance and whether it was meant for industrial or domestic use.
DCP Krishna said preliminary investigation revealed that marital discord was suspected to be the reason behind the attack. Bystanders who witnessed the incident attempted to intervene.
A traffic police sub-inspector and his staff, who were on duty near the hospital, nabbed the accused with the help of the public and handed him over to jurisdictional police. Madhumitha remains in critical condition and is undergoing treatment at the hospital. Investigation is under way.