LUMUT, May 11 — A man who was furious after being rebuked by his wife for being drunk allegedly set his own house on fire in Taman Hijau, Sitiawan near here yesterday.

Manjung district police chief ACP Nor Omar Sappi said the police were now searching for the man, in his 40s, who fled after the fire broke out at 11.45pm.

He said firefighters put out the fire and no casualties were reported.

"Based on the wife’s statement, the suspect was very drunk when he came home and was making noise while the neighbours were asleep.

"Upset at being rebuked, the suspect then scolded his wife. He rammed his car, a Nissan X-Trail, into a neighbour’s house before entering his own house, set it on fire and escaped through the back door,” he said in a statement here today.

Nor Omar said the firefighters found that nearly 50 per cent of the furniture and interior of the house were destroyed and the estimated loss was RM18,000.

"Further inspection by the police also found a rusty and slightly burned fake pistol in one of the rooms,” he said.

He said the suspect has records for five drug offences. — Bernama