Surat: A woman was allegedly attacked with acid by her husband inside the family court at the Surat District Seva Sadan complex in Athwalines on Friday morning, after which he also ostensibly tried to poison himself. Both were then taken to hospital. Umra police reached the spot and began an investigation. The couple — the woman is 61 years old and the man is 75 — had separated in 2017, after which the woman began living with her daughter in Surat. She had filed three maintenance and recovery petitions in the Surat family court in 2021, 2023 and 2025, and two additional pleas in the Surat district court in 2021 and 2024. In 2023, the husband allegedly attacked her with a knife outside the district court, leading to an attempted murder case being filed against him. He was out on bail when he arrived for Friday’s hearing. According to the woman’s lawyer, the couple was in court for a maintenance and recovery matter. The accused, seated in the row behind his wife, allegedly pulled out a bottle of acid and threw it on her after refusing to accept certain conditions in the settlement. He had reportedly been pressuring her to withdraw the attempted murder case. When she insisted on proceeding with the cases, he attacked her. The victim suffered damage to the lens of her left eye and burns on her mouth and other parts of her body. Splashes of acid also fell on lawyers seated nearby.
