Salzburg man jailed for fuel attack against wife
A Tunisian has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for threatening to set his wife on fire.Judges at Salzburgs Provincial Court heard today (Thurs) how the 30-year-old had asked his wife what she would do if he burnt the house down before showering her with petrol in front of their son.The Austrian woman, 25, who has filed for divorce in the meantime, said in court: “We quarrelled almost everyday. He wanted to discuss something that night, but I couldnt be bothered and went upstairs to lie down next to our son.”She added: “He entered the room a short while later and asked me what I would do if he set all we had on fire. He then poured some liquid over my head. It smelled like petrol.”The family mum said the man who has a criminal record then played around with a lighter. “I thought my kid and I would perish,” she said, speaking about the incident that occurred earlier this year.Asked why she had waited for months before getting in touch with police, the woman explained: “I fought to get him out of custody when he was most recently jailed, some time before the petrol attack. I told myself our child should not grow up without a father. I tried to keep up an illusion.”The defendant, who denied ever having threatened or physically attacked the women, accused her of lying. “I dont even own a canister,” he said.The verdict does not have legal status yet.This trial comes only days after a Styrian woman told police she had hid from her jobless husband for two days after he had showered her with car fuel.The Sonnberg resident hid in woodlands for around 48 hours after the violent drug addict tried to set her on fire. The man tried to do the same when she returned.A female friend of the victim informed police about what had happened as the 46-year-old had no plans to report her husband.The 48-year-old is in custody, and prosecutors are expected to press attempted murder charges against him.