Calcutta: Neighbours ransacked a house at Sarsuna, in the Thakurpukur area, after a 37-year-old man tried to commit suicide late on Sunday.

He allegedly attempted to immolate himself as he was unable to bear being tortured by his wife.

Tapas Chakraborty set himself ablaze at his Sarsuna residence, a rented floor in a two-storeyed house, well after Sunday midnight, police said.

On Monday, police reconstructed the incident on the basis of the statement of his wife Sutapa.

"He poured kerosene on himself and struck a match when I was in the toilet," Sutapa said, adding that when she came out, he was already engulfed by flames.

"When she found her husband in flames, she started screaming," said S.N. Gupta, superintendent of police (South 24 Parganas).

Alerted by her screams and noticing smoke billowing out of a window, neighbours rushed to the house. They tried to put out the fire by pouring water on Tapas.

Some neighbours wrapped blankets around him. The fire was extinguished after considerable effort, but not before it had caused 90 per cent burns.

The neighbours rushed Tapas to SSKM Hospital, where he was admitted. He is now fighting for his life in the burns ward of the hospital.

"Tapas has suffered 90 per cent burns. His condition is critical," said Santanu Tripathy, superintendent, SSKM Hospital. According to attending doctors, nothing could be said before 72 hours.

Angry neighbours raided the house, alleging that Sutapa was responsible for the attempted suicide as "she had made Tapas"s life hell".

One of them alleged: "Quarrels were a daily affair in the family. The wife has a vile temper and even used to beat him up at times. They led a very unhappy conjugal life."

A group of angry neighbours assaulted the victim"s brother-in-law, who was in the house when Tapas attempted suicide.

The Chakrabortys were married 10 years ago. Earlier, they used to live in a rented house at Beleghata, near Sutapa"s parents.

They shifted to Sarsuna recently. Tapas was employed in a private firm.

Officials from Thakurpukur police station visited the house on Monday.

"I"ve asked the officer-in-charge of Thakurpukur police station to make a thorough inquiry and submit a report. We will interrogate the wife to ascertain the exact cause of the suicide attempt," said police superintendent Gupta.

According to a senior police officer, they were trying to probe the cause of bitterness in the Chakraborty marriage, that might have triggered the act of desperation. "They may have been unhappy because Tapas"s income was very limited," he added.