A Turkish man accused of throwing boiling water over his wife and daughter when she woke him up by bringing him breakfast in bed has told the court it was an accident, and that he even rubbed cooling yoghurt on her burnt flesh to prove he did not mean it.

The shocking incident took place in the central Turkish city of Konya on 9th January.

The victim, Rukiye Ay, 23, said she wanted to give her husband, who she was married to for five years, breakfast in bed as a pleasant surprise.

However, when she woke up 28-year-old Ali Ay, he flew into a rage because he had not been allowed to lie in and started shouting at her.

She said: “I prepared it all and then went to my husband so he had breakfast in bed.

“He was angry and demanded to know why I woke him up, and told me not to bother him, so I started having breakfast with my daughter.”

She added: “He then poured boiling water down my neck. He was going to throw it in my face but I turned away.

“I ran away and found my T-shirt sticking to my skin. He then threw the rest of the boiling water at me and some of it landed on my child’s feet and the rest hit me on the hip.

“I wanted to escape, but I passed out from the pain. When I came to, I could hear my daughter screaming and then I felt him grab my hair and drag me into the bathroom.”

She said the sound of her daughter crying gave her extra strength and when he called his father, she seized the opportunity to run to a neighbour who gave her shelter and called the police, leading to her husband’s arrest.

However, instead of being remanded in custody, she was horrified when he was then released, causing public outrage that resulted in him being rearrested and remanded in custody.

The trial started on 5th March and Ali Ay made an appearance by video link from prison where he said: “We had an argument after sitting at the breakfast table. ‘Are you even a man?’ she insulted me with.

“Then, while I was filling my glass from the teapot, my wife lashed out at my hand and I held up the pot so it wouldn’t spill.

“Hot water poured onto my left hand and down my wife’s back. I panicked and called my father. I did not know that boiling water had landed on my child as well.

“I would never deliberately pour boiling water over my wife and daughter.”

Judge Ali Kaya asked: “If it happened by accident, why does your wife only have burns on her back? Did you lift the teapot up to her neck to fill your glass?”

The defendant replied: “It happened accidentally; I also have burns on my hand.”

Public prosecutor Hatice Akkan asked: “If it happened by accident, why did you call your father and not an ambulance?”

The defendant said that he thought his father would drive them to the hospital because his house was close.

He added: “I did not do it deliberately or with ill will. There was no bad intent. When she was injured, I even took yoghurt from the fridge and rubbed it on her injuries to take the burning feeling away.”

However, a neighbour said in court: “When Rukiye came to our house, she showed us her back. There was no yoghurt or anything else on her wounds.”

The case was adjourned and the judge ordered the defendant to remain in custody until the next hearing.