Indian man chops off wife's hand to stop her from taking government job

A 26-year-old Indian man from the state of West Bengal allegedly chopped off his wife's right hand because he was not happy with her getting a new government job that would require her to move cities.

Sher Mohammed Sheikh, a resident of East Burdwan in West Bengal, committed the crime along with his two friends while his 23-year-old wife, Renu Khatun, was fast asleep at their house early on Sunday morning.

According to local media reports, the man muffled her screams by putting a pillow on her mouth and while chopping her hand off. The incident came to light after the man had to take his wife to a hospital for treatment. He later fled from the scene along with his accomplices.

"Preliminary investigations have revealed that Sheikh did not want Khatun to take up the job fearing that she could be posted in a different city," a police officer told Hindustan Times.

Khatun, who has a diploma in nursing from Kolkata, was reportedly being harassed by her in-laws and husband as they did not want her to work.

The police have not been able to recover the weapon used in the attack. Meanwhile, the parents of the accused have been arrested by the police

"She got married in 2017 and life has been difficult for her at her in-laws' place from the very beginning.... The torture increased manifold when Renu informed her husband recently that she has got a government job as a nurse and she can be posted anywhere across the state as per the job condition," her elder brother, Ripon Sheikh,, said.

Khatun is undergoing treatment at a hospital and is determined to get back on her feet despite just having been through a traumatic incident. She has even started learning to write with her left hand, per local media reports.

"I refuse to give up. I will not stop," she was quoted as saying by The Times of India. She has demanded for the state government to help her by offering her a job. However, state chief minister Mamata Banerjee has not taken any such step yet.

Crimes against women are not uncommon in India, which is a highly conservative society. Deaths due to dowry, female infanticide, rape and sexual assault cases make it to the headlines of mainstream newspapers almost every day.