A Sydney entrepreneur has described the moment his boyfriend allegedly assaulted him with boiling water and a saucepan in a luxury French villa, sharing a photo of his horrific injuries.
Callum Forbes suffered second-degree burns to his face requiring stitches, along with burns to his torso and arms and a burst eardrum, after police allege his then partner, Australian banker David Cao, poured a saucepan full of hot water over him and struck him with it.
Forbes was sleeping at the time of the alleged attack and told The Daily Telegraph it happened shortly after the pair had discussed separating.
The couple was staying in the $500-a-night Château de Perreux boutique hotel in the Nazelles-Négron area of central France on July 28.
They had enjoyed a pleasant dinner and spa before going to sleep, and Mr Forbes was caught completely off-guard by the alleged attack while fast asleep.
“Strangely I kept sleeping but I was burned, badly burned,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“I still thought I was in a nightmare until I looked down and saw blood everywhere on the floor – it was like a murder scene. I started screaming for help.”
Cao, 37, then a banker employed by ING, allegedly fled the scene and was later arrested by French authorities 500km away at the Belgian border following a 36-hour manhunt.
The couple had checked into the boutique venue’s “cave rooms” — carved into the cliff adjacent to the hotel — for a one-night stopover as part of a European holiday which was to culminate in their attendance at World Pride Amsterdam.
Guests and staff reported screams from the hotel room. Forbes was found by hotel staff.
Authorities allege Cao fled the hotel in a rental car, travelling three hours north to Rouen before boarding a train to Paris, and then onto Lille near the Belgian border where he was arrested as he disembarked the train.
He was charged with attempted murder and is being held in custody awaiting trial.
French newspaper Ouest France reports Cao is facing other charges including kidnapping, theft, torture and acts of barbarity.
La Nouvelle Republique, citing a source close to the investigation, reports Mr Cao admitted to the attack but not intending to kill his partner.
Forbes is receiving consular assistance from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), a spokesman confirmed to news.com.au.
DFAT said it was also “seeking to make contact with an Australian detained in France to offer consular assistance.”
“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,” the spokesman said.Cao worked at ING as head of retail value creation at the time of the incident, but is no longer employed by the bank.
“We are aware of allegations involving a former employee,” an ING spokesman told news.com.au.
