The accused - a homemaker - was tortured by her husband, saying he would marry another woman and lead a life just like jailed actor Darshan.

“Men can do anything and get away,” the accused husband told the victim.

The police identified the victim as Anusha and the accused husband as Srihari. The victim poured petrol on herself at her residence and set herself on fire on Thursday and was admitted to Victoria Hospital, where she succumbed to severe burn injuries on Saturday.

The police have taken the accused into custody for questioning.

The victim’s mother, Renuka, told media persons that Srihari repeatedly told his wife that film actor Darshan was living with two women and that men could do anything in such matters and get away.

“Srihari tortured Anusha every day. My daughter revealed and shared everything with me. Her husband took the name of actor Darshan to defend himself. Fifteen days ago, my daughter slashed her hand and asked him not to talk about divorce with her,” she said.

Renuka added that on Thursday, her daughter asked her to feed the baby and went to her master bedroom.

“She went to the attached bathroom and after making a video call to Srihari asked him to change his behaviour or she would pour petrol on herself and set herself on fire. The accused told her to go ahead. He informed me later and by then my daughter had sustained severe burn injuries,” Renuka said.

She added that she rushed her daughter to the hospital.

“No woman from a poor background should undergo trauma like my daughter did. Only parents who give birth to daughters know the suffering in such situations. If Srihari had informed me about the incident a little earlier, I would have saved my child,” Renuka wept.

Renuka said that Srihari would talk about other women in front of her and indulge in inappropriate conversations over video calls with them. He would deliberately turn on the loudspeaker to mentally torture Anusha. Despite this, she stayed with him, thinking about her child’s future.

Police sources said that they received information about Srihari also torturing his wife to cooperate with him after showing her vulgar videos. He had been torturing her more over the last two months and wanted to marry another woman from a wealthy background at his office.

The couple had been married for five years and Srihari is a relative of the deceased.

The Hulimavu Police have taken up the investigation.