The vigilance of a co-tenant at Daibene, a suburb of Takoradi, saved a 48 year old woman from being killed by her 58-year old husband over marital squabbles, a prosecutor told a Takoradi Circuit court.

Inspector Bernard Annor told the court presided over by Mr Kwesi Boakye that Jacob Essoun, the husband, carpenter had sprinkled his room with petrol and invited his wife, Madam Mary Yankey, trader with the intention to kill her to end their 25-year old marriage with six children.

This, he said, aroused the suspicion of the co-tenant who also rushed and pulled the wife out of the room.

Mary lodged a complaint with the Police and Essoun was subsequently arraigned before the court for attempting to commit a crime intentionally and cause unlawful damage.

The court did not take his plea and granted him GHC1,000 bail to re-appear on August 30.

The prosecutor stated that a few months ago, the couple had marital problems and the husband threatened to kill the wife. Family members tried to resolve the problem without success.

Inspector Annor said at about 1400 hours on July 13, this year, the husband sprinkled petrol on all the clothes of his wife and called her into the bedroom for some discussion.

The prosecutor said when she entered the room, the husband, who was then lying on a bench outside rushed into the room and attempted to set the room ablaze.

However, a co-tenant in the house who saw the husband rushing into the room also dashed inside and managed to rescue the wife.

The prosecution said the wife reported the incident to the police but the man managed to escape from the town however, the police upon a tip-off arrested him.

A police retrieved a yellow gallon with fuel and matches beside it from the room during a search.

When the presiding judge asked the accused why he had wanted to burn his wife, Essoun explained that his wife had denied him sex for over a year and she had threatened to divorce him.