Police arrested a 42-year-old man for throwing acid at his wife in Bharatpur Metropolis-24, Chitwan, on Wednesday.

Biren Gurung, a native of Pokhara Metropolis-1 in Kaski, with the help of his three friends, attacked his 20-year-old wife Dolma Rumba at her parents’ home in Chitwan. Dolma had come to stay with her parents at Jagatpur a the few weeks ago following a dispute with her husband.

“Biren had reserved a tourist van from Pokhara and travelled to his in-laws’ house with three other accomplices where he attacked his wife with acid,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Durgaraj Regmi, spokesperson at Chitwan District Police Office.

“The culprits were arrested from Narayangadh within an hour of the incident.”

Dolma is currently receiving treatment at Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital in Bharatpur.

Dr Dayaram Chapagain, who treated Dolma, said that the corrosive liquid had burned the skin around her eye, but she is out of danger.

“It seems the husband intended to damage the victim’s face, but her defensive reflexes saved her from much injury,” said DSP Regmi.

Police recovered the acid bottle and Dolma’s damaged jacket at the scene of the crime.

Dolma had met Biren five years ago, and had gotten married with him soon after.

“Biren had somehow gotten hold of my phone number and started calling me often,” she said.

“He proposed to marry me on our first meeting. I agreed without giving much thought to it. But after two years of marriage, he started drinking alcohol and beating me,” she said.

After the drinking and beating ensued, Dolma stayed at her parents’ home for a long time and returned to her husband’s home in mid-December. After a week-long stay, she again returned to Chitwan to live with her parents. “I had a temporary job in Pokhara, and my husband created problems for me there,” she said.

According to Dolma, her husband used to spread unnecessary rumours about her and her sister, defame them on his Facebook account and post their phone numbers publicly.

She said that she had refrained from filing any police complaint because Biren was her husband, and did not want societal shame. She added that she had never imagined that such an ugly nightmare would occur in her life.

While trying to capture Biren, police also nabbed Birendra Gurung, 45, Bibek Gurung, 24, and Hom Thapa, 39, who were trying to flee on a van. “We tried to stop them at Bharatpur’s Chaubiskothi but they didn’t stop. Later we nabbed them from Lions Chok in Narayangadh,” said DSP Regmi.

This is the third acid attack in Chitwan district in the past nine months.