Riyadh: Police have arrested a man in Saudi Arabia for pouring boiling water on his wife following a dispute, a media report said Sunday.

The man, a drug addict, last week poured boiling water on his 35-year-old wife after she asked for divorce and the documents which he had hidden from her, Arab News reported.

The victim, a resident of Jazan city, said she had been subjected to violence by her husband for a long time.

The woman is now undergoing treatment for second degree burns on her body.

"He used to hit me, curse me and torture me. He reached a point where he would break my fingers, nose and arms," she said.

"I want my rights and compensation for the years of misery I endured with him, which got me to where I am now," the report quoted the woman as telling her neighbours.

Jazan Police spokesman Abdulrahman Al-Zahrani told Arab News that the woman is undergoing treatment and that investigation into the incident is under way.

The woman, who has ten children, said her problems started a few years ago when her husband started using drugs and began abusing her.