Pescara : A man suffered severe burns to his face and entire body after his elderly mother doused him with surgical spirit and set him alight when he returned home drunk in the coastal city of Pescara.

The 51-year-old man is being treated at the nearby city of Cesena's hospital, while his 75-year-old mother is being held in the psychiatric wing of the city of Chieti's women's prison.

The man is reported to be an alcoholic and to live with his mother in an apartment in Pescara's crime-hit Rancitelli district.-Agency