A child trying to save her mother, burned for it.
In Bengaluru on the night of January 30, a man returned to the home from which he had already been expelled that evening — drunk, carrying heated oil — and visited a violence upon his wife and young daughter that the law now classifies as attempted murder. The act was not impulsive in the way accidents are impulsive; it was a return, a preparation, a choice. It asks the older and harder question that domestic violence has always asked: what does a community owe to those endangered within the walls it cannot see through.
- A 38-year-old painter, expelled from his home after a fight, came back the same night carrying half a litre of boiling cooking oil — the return itself was the warning no one caught in time.
- He knocked his wife unconscious with a piece of wood before pouring the scalding oil across her body; when their 13-year-old daughter ran to help her mother, he burned her too.
- Neighbours heard the screams and came — but Thomas had already fled into the night, leaving behind two women with severe burns and a household shattered beyond the ordinary.
- Police tracked him down within days, and a court placed him in judicial custody on attempted murder charges — the machinery of justice now moving where the machinery of prevention did not.
- The mother remains in the burns ward at Victoria Hospital; the daughter recovers at home; and the case settles into a system that will weigh what happened long after the oil has cooled.
On the night of January 30, Thomas, a 38-year-old painter, returned to his home in LR Nagar, Bengaluru, hours after neighbours had forced him out following a fight with his wife Anthoniyamma. He was drunk. He was carrying cooking oil he had heated until it boiled.
He struck Anthoniyamma on the head with a piece of wood, rendering her unconscious, then poured the scalding oil over her body. Their 13-year-old daughter, asleep in another room, woke to her mother's screams and ran to help — and Thomas turned the oil on her hand as well. The cries brought neighbours to the door. Thomas fled.
Police found Anthoniyamma with severe burns and admitted her to the burns ward at Victoria Hospital, where she remains. Her daughter is recovering at home. Officers from Adugodi police tracked Thomas down within days, and a court remanded him to judicial custody on charges of attempted murder.
Authorities say the violence had long roots — Thomas had repeatedly accused his wife of infidelity, and jealousy had made their home a place of recurring conflict. That night, the conflict crossed into something that cannot be undone. The case now moves through the courts, carrying with it the weight of a woman in a hospital bed and a child who ran toward danger in her own home.
On the night of January 30, a 38-year-old painter named Thomas returned to his home in LR Nagar, near Adugodi, in Bengaluru. He was drunk. He was carrying about half a litre of cooking oil. Hours earlier that same evening, he had fought with his wife Anthoniyamma and neighbours had forced him out of the house. Now he was back.
Thomas struck his wife on the head with a sturdy piece of wood, knocking her unconscious. Then he heated the oil in a pan until it was boiling and poured it across her body. The screams of a woman in agony woke their 13-year-old daughter, who was sleeping in another room. When she heard her mother and rushed to help, Thomas poured the same scalding oil onto her hand.
The cries from both mother and daughter were loud enough that neighbours heard them and came to the house. Thomas fled. Police arrived to find Anthoniyamma severely burned and her daughter injured. Both had sustained damage that required immediate medical attention. The mother was admitted to the burns ward at Victoria Hospital, where she remains under treatment. The daughter is recovering at home.
Thomas disappeared after the attack, but not for long. Officers from Adugodi police tracked him down by Tuesday—just days after the assault. A court ordered him held in judicial custody. He now faces charges of attempted murder. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Srinath Mahadev Joshi, the violence had roots in Thomas's jealousy. He had repeatedly accused his wife of infidelity, and the couple fought often because of his suspicions. That night, the fight had escalated beyond argument into something irreversible.
The case sits now in the machinery of the criminal justice system, with one woman in a hospital bed and a child marked by what happened in her own home. The question of why a man returns to a house where he has already been forced out—and what he intends when he brings heated oil with him—remains the kind of question that domestic violence cases force communities to confront.
Notable Quotes
The couple often fought because Thomas suspected that his wife was having an affair— Deputy Commissioner of Police Srinath Mahadev Joshi
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did he come back that night? Was there something that triggered him specifically?
The source doesn't say what made him return. We know he'd already fought with her earlier and neighbours pushed him out. But what made him go get the oil, heat it, and come back—that's not explained. The jealousy was chronic, not new.
The daughter was asleep in another room. Did she know what was happening before she woke up?
No. She only knew when she heard her mother screaming. She woke to that sound and made a choice to go help, which is when she got burned herself. A child trying to save her mother.
How long was he actually gone before they caught him?
Five days. He fled after the neighbours came, and police found him by Tuesday. Not a long time to disappear in a city, but long enough that he tried.
The wife is still in the hospital. Do we know how severe the burns are?
The source doesn't give those details. Just that she's in the burns ward at Victoria Hospital. The daughter is home, so hers were less severe, but we don't have specifics on either.
What happens to them now, legally and practically?
He's in judicial custody facing attempted murder charges. But the wife and daughter—they're the ones who have to rebuild. She's healing from severe burns. The daughter has a scar on her hand and a memory of trying to save her mother.