Bhubaneswar, Sept. 29: Mahila police arrested a 37-year-old man here on charges of dowry torture.

Ranjan Panda, a school dropout, was arrested last night after his wife, the mother of a seven-year-old son, lodged a complaint against him. She said her husband went to the extent of slashing her private parts on two occasions.

The victim, a native of Nakhara on the city outskirts, said her husband started torturing her a year after their marriage in September 2005.

“On September 23, he tonsured my head and even cut my private parts with a blade and later stitched it. He has forcefully given me psychotropic drugs and even administered anaesthesia. When I was in pain, he forced himself upon me two days later. On September 27, he again stitched my private parts and thrust a tube light into my abdomen,” said the victim.

The victim, who is a matriculate and had an arranged marriage with Panda, alleged that her family had given Rs 50,000 in cash along with other things to the family of Panda, which lives in Jagmara, as dowry.

“His family members, too, never came to my rescue. He had been demanding Rs 1.5 lakh from my parents. When I opposed him on one occasion, he branded me with a hot iron rod,” said the victim.

She alleged that Khandagiri police station had refused to register her complaint.

“A case has been registered against her husband under sections 323, 307, 324 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Dowry Prevention Act,” said an officer of the Mahila police station.

Woman set on fire

A 30-year-old woman sustained severe burn injuries after allegedly being set on fire by her mother-in-law at Kharavela Nagar today.

The woman’s husband and mother-in-law have been detained by the police and a compliant has been registered.

Actor and MP Siddhant Mohapatra, who is a neighbour of the victim, said that he and his family members came out of their house after hearing her screams. “We saw her running with her body on fire. We doused the fire by covering her body with a blanket. Later, we called an ambulance and admitted her to Capital Hospital,” said the actor.