By IANS,
Sydney : An Australian-Indian woman who set her husband’s genitals afire for alleged infidelity has been charged with murder.
Rajini Narayan, 44, allegedly doused her husband Satish with a flammable liquid while he was sleeping Dec 8. Satish jumped out of bed after being set ablaze and knocked over the substance, causing the fire to spread.
Rajini told an Adeliade court that she wanted to punish her husband for his alleged infidelity and did not mean to kill him.
Rajini was initially charged with arson and endangering life, including those of her three children, who were in the house at the time. But the charge was upgraded to murder after Narayan succumbed to his injuries last week.
Lucy Boord, a prosecutor, said Rajini had confessed to her neighbours, telling them she was a “jealous wife” and believed her husband was having an affair.
“I just wanted to burn his penis so it belongs to me and no one else. I didn’t mean this to happen,” Boord quoted Rajini as saying.
The fire damaged the couple’s house estimated at one million Australian dollars.
Rajini is being held in custody pending the results of a psychological assessment.