A Birmingham man has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for attempting to murder his wife by pouring hot oil over her and attacking her in their family home. Raju Mollah, 49, was sentenced on Friday 24 April at Birmingham Crown Court after being found guilty of attempted murder following a trial in August. An indefinite restraining order was also granted.
The attack
The court heard that Mollah and his wife had argued over property days before the attack, creating a tense atmosphere. On 12 January 2025, Mollah returned home and told his wife, who was cooking, to make him an omelette. He placed an unusual amount of oil in a frying pan and waited for it to heat up. When she turned away to wash a utensil, he grabbed her by the hair and poured the hot oil over her face and head. He then struck her repeatedly with the frying pan and the metal frame from the gas cooker.
As she fell to the floor, he stamped on her, kicked her, and pushed a mop into her face. She suffered severe burns across her face, neck, arms, and hands, with skin beginning to peel. She also sustained a minor bleed to the brain, missing teeth, bleeding from the mouth, a swollen left eye, deep wounds to her face and head, and singed hair. Some burns penetrated through all layers of skin to underlying structures.
Emergency response
When paramedics arrived, the victim was lying in a pool of oil with blood surrounding her head. One paramedic reported feeling radiating heat from the hot oil covering the floor. Police arrived to find Mollah lying, claiming it was an accident and suggesting his wife had fallen. In his police interview, he falsely claimed self-defence.
Mollah pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent but denied attempted murder. However, the jury convicted him of attempted murder.
Prosecution comment
Tejinder Sandhu from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This was a vicious and sustained attack that left the victim with severe, life-changing injuries. Raju Mollah lied to minimise what he had done by claiming self-defence, but the evidence proved he deliberately attacked his wife with the intention of killing her. There is no excuse for such violence, and we will continue to robustly prosecute those who commit such atrocious crimes as fully as the law allows. We would like to commend the victim for her courage and bravery in giving evidence against Mollah and we hope this conviction brings some measure of justice to her as she continues her recovery.”
