A man in Bihar’s Bhagalpur allegedly set his wife on fire because he could not pronounce on her the instant triple talaq, which has been declared unlawful by the Centre through an ordinance.

The woman, who had refused to divorce Muhammad Sanovar, has suffered 80 per cent burns and is battling for her life in a government hospital.

The woman, identified as Begum Khatoon, 33, was rescued by her father and other family members. They rushed her to the nearest hospital and later lodged an FIR with police.

Khatoon has been married to Sanovar for 13 years and has two sons. However, her husband had allegedly been pressuring her for divorce for the past three years so that he could marry one of his relatives.

Khatoon refused and went to live with her parents in another village. Sanovar came there around 10 days ago, struck a compromise and brought her back to his home.

“My husband has an illicit relation with another woman and wants to marry her. He wanted to divorce me before that, but could not dare to do so after instant triple talaq was banned. Hence, he was pressuring me to divorce him. He shoved me towards a gas stove,” Khatoon told the police.

Kharik station house officer (SHO) Hari Shankar Kashyap told The Telegraph that the police had arrested Sanovar and were searching for the others named in the FIR. He added that further investigations were being conducted.