- Wife who set husband's genitals alight on murder charge
- By Gavin Lower
- The Australian
- 06/01/2009 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 258 articles in 2009 )
A MOTHER of three accused of murdering her husband by setting his genitals alight allegedly told neighbours she was a "jealous wife" who had learned he was having an affair, a court heard yesterday.
Rajini Narayan, 44, appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court where she faced an upgraded charge of murder after her husband, Satish Narayan, died on December 27 from his injuries after being burned in his home.
Crown prosecutor Lucy Boord, opposing bail , told the court it was alleged Ms Narayan doused her husband's genitals with petrol as he slept in their Unley home and set him alight about 5.30am on December 7.
It is believed a blaze erupted after Mr Narayan jumped out of bed and knocked over a bottle of petrol, which spread to a nearby property and caused about $1 million damage.
Ms Narayan and the couple's three children escaped their burning home unharmed
Ms Boord said it was alleged that Ms Narayan was heard outside the house saying that her husband loved another woman and was having an affair.
It was alleged Ms Narayan said: "His penis should belong to me. I wanted to burn his penis so it didn't belong to anyone else."
She is also alleged to have said "it was just his penis I wanted to burn" and that she did not mean for "anything like this" to happen. She allegedly said that her husband "hugs" the other woman.
Mr Narayan suffered burns to 85 per cent of his body and died in the Royal Adelaide Hospital 20 days after the fire.
Ms Narayan was originally charged with causing serious harm to her husband, arson and three counts of endangering life. The aggravated causing serious harm charge was upgraded to murder after Mr Narayan died.
It is understood the Narayan family arrived in Adelaide several months ago from Canberra after Mr Narayan was employed on the Australian Navy's Air Warfare Destroyer project.
Ms Narayan, who appeared in the dock with her back to the public gallery during the short bail hearing, has yet to enter a plea to the charges.
Her bail application was adjourned until Friday.
Rajini Narayan, 44, appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court where she faced an upgraded charge of murder after her husband, Satish Narayan, died on December 27 from his injuries after being burned in his home.
Crown prosecutor Lucy Boord, opposing bail , told the court it was alleged Ms Narayan doused her husband's genitals with petrol as he slept in their Unley home and set him alight about 5.30am on December 7.
It is believed a blaze erupted after Mr Narayan jumped out of bed and knocked over a bottle of petrol, which spread to a nearby property and caused about $1 million damage.
Ms Narayan and the couple's three children escaped their burning home unharmed
Ms Boord said it was alleged that Ms Narayan was heard outside the house saying that her husband loved another woman and was having an affair.
It was alleged Ms Narayan said: "His penis should belong to me. I wanted to burn his penis so it didn't belong to anyone else."
She is also alleged to have said "it was just his penis I wanted to burn" and that she did not mean for "anything like this" to happen. She allegedly said that her husband "hugs" the other woman.
Mr Narayan suffered burns to 85 per cent of his body and died in the Royal Adelaide Hospital 20 days after the fire.
Ms Narayan was originally charged with causing serious harm to her husband, arson and three counts of endangering life. The aggravated causing serious harm charge was upgraded to murder after Mr Narayan died.
It is understood the Narayan family arrived in Adelaide several months ago from Canberra after Mr Narayan was employed on the Australian Navy's Air Warfare Destroyer project.
Ms Narayan, who appeared in the dock with her back to the public gallery during the short bail hearing, has yet to enter a plea to the charges.
Her bail application was adjourned until Friday.
Source: https://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24877650-5006787,00.html
1Will not be visible to public.
2Receive notification of other comments posted for this article. To cease notification after having posted click here.
3To make a link clickable in the comments box enclose in link tags - ie.<link>Link</link>.
4To show an image enclose the image URL in tags - ie.<image>https://fredspage.com/box.jpg</image>. Note: image may be resized if too large
To further have your say, head to our forum Click Here
To contribute a news article Click Here
To view or contribute a Quote Click Here