A 30-year-old married man lost his vision after he was severely thrashed on being found in a compromising position with a married woman in Bhelahi village of Madhepura district on Saturday.

Murliganj police station sources said the woman’s husband chanced upon the rendezvous after which he and his kin thrashed the man.

Madhepura superintendent of police (SP) Anand Kumar Singh said the two had an illicit relationship. Sources said the duo had eloped in 2011. A case was registered. The police found the woman three months later and handed her to her husband. “Since then, she was living with her husband, but the affair was on clandestinely,” Biresh Yadav of Bhelahi said.

SP Anand Kumar said: “After the thrashing, the police rushed the man to a Murliganj hospital, where, after first aid, he was referred to Madhepura Sadar hospital. Doctors there found blood oozing from his eyes and referred him to Patna Medical College and Hospital.

S.S. Choudhary, in-charge of eye department at PMCH, said the man has lost his vision as both retinas were damaged. There was no way vision could be restored. The man’s relatives rushed him to a hospital in Nepal, he said.

The woman’s husband and father-in-law were arrested on a complaint by the man’s brother. A search was on for others named in the complaint.

The man’s family said the incident was fallout of personal rivalry. The man’s brother even denied the two had been found in a compromising position.