Husband who tried to homicide his spouse by pouring sizzling oil on her head and putting her with a frying pan after asking her to make an omelette is jailed for 26 years

A man who tried to kill his wife by pouring hot oil on her head and striking her with a frying pan after asking her to make him an omelette has been jailed for 26 years.

Raju Mollah, 50, and his wife had argued days before he stamped on her, kicked her and pushed a mop into her face on January 12 last year, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Mollah’s wife, who was found by police lying in a pool of oil, suffered severe burns, a minor bleed to the brain, missing teeth, wounds to her face and head, and singed hair.

The CPS said a paramedic who attended the scene said she could feel radiating heat from the hot oil on the floor.

Mollah, from Birmingham, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent but denied attempting to murder his wife.

A jury convicted him after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court in August last year and he was sentenced to 26 years in prison on Friday, the CPS said.

An indefinite restraining order was also imposed.

On the day of the attack, Mollah came home from work and told his wife to make him an omelette, before he put oil in a frying pan and waited for it to heat up.

When she turned away to wash a utensil, Mollah grabbed her hair and poured the hot oil over her face before hitting her repeatedly with the pan and a metal frame from the gas cooker.

Mollah suggested to police at the scene that his wife had fallen in an accident but when interviewed he claimed he was defending himself.

Tejinder Sandhu, a Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS West Midlands, 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.’

In a heartbreaking statement Mrs Mumtaz said: ‘He has destroyed my life, my family and my face.’

She confirmed she no longer left the house, had left college and could no longer bear to look at her own face in the mirror.

Mrs Mumtaz further outlined her ongoing physical and psychological difficulties from the attack.

She added: ‘The only good thing to come from this is my divorce.

‘I’m free of him and have a new life. This isn’t a life I want. He’s destroyed my life. He did an evil, nasty thing.’

Mrs Mumtaz spoke of her previous hopes of going into teaching but said: ‘However I’m a prisoner in my own home.

‘I can’t and won’t go out. I didn’t do anything wrong, why has this happened to me?’

Mollah and Ms Mumtaz shared three children and had been married 23 years.

He had never previously committed a crime or been violent to his wife but in December 2024 he demanded a divorce over a property in Bangladesh he had given to her. But Ms Mumtaz refused.

Emergency services were then called to their home in Small Heath at 7.10pm on January 12, 2025.

Paramedics found Mrs Mumtaz lying on the kitchen floor surrounded by hot oil.

Her face was covered with blood and oil.

Earlier that evening Mrs Mumtaz had been ill and had asked Mollah to clean chicken for her to cook later on.

She then came into the kitchen and noticed he had put a large amount of oil in a pan which he was heating up.

Judge Richard Bond, passing sentence, said: ‘There was no argument between you while she was washing a utensil with her back turned to you.

‘You calmly picked up the pan and poured the burning hot oil over her head.

‘Nothing had been said or done to indicate you were about to carry out this attack.

‘You then picked up a red hot skillet from the gas ring on the stove and put it on her face with the intention of burning her skin.

‘You were successful in that regard. It was almost as if you were branding her.’

He continued: ‘She dropped to the ground, you grabbed her hair and banged her head and face against hard surfaces.

‘During this continued attack you picked up a mop and essentially put it over her nose and mouth but then with force you rammed it into her face.

‘Finally, you kicked and stamped on her head on many occasions. Your victim was conscious throughout.’

Mrs Mumtaz was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

She suffered a number of damaged teeth, swelling and cuts to her head and a nasal fracture.

Judge Bond described her burn injuries as ‘horrific’ as he told Mollah: ‘You have permanently disfigured your wife’s face and body.’

He imposed an indefinite restraining order banning Mollah from contact with his wife and youngest children.

He had summoned help from a neighbour but lied that the incident was an accident.

Mollah subsequently wrote a number of letters in a bid to convince his wife not to tell the truth about what had happened.

Mrs Mumtaz stated she has since been shunned by many of her friends for her choice to ‘seek justice’ because they supported her husband.

Thomas Copeland, defending, said Mollah had ‘always been a hard-working man’.

He added: ‘Although it is entirely his responsibility the impact on his children has been and continues to be immeasurable.

‘He will have to try and rebuild the relationship with them. He has made progress in custody.’