Domestic violence in spotlight following several domestic incidents around Conn.

HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) - The topic of domestic violence has been brought to the forefront after a man attempted to light a woman on fire in Middletown over the weekend.

The incident began Saturday night following a domestic disturbance call to a mobile home in Middletown.

55-year-old Eugene Boudreau tried setting a woman on fire in his own trailer. The woman was unharmed, but the fire spread to the trailer next door.

Neighbors say this wasn’t the couple’s first altercation.

“They’ve had trouble in the past with the neighbor’s fighting,” says Morgan Silva the daughter-in-law of the family whose trailer was destroyed in the fire.

The fire follows a murder-suicide involving a man and woman inside their Bethel home earlier this month. Back in December, a man killed his ex-girlfriend with an axe in Milford.

These three incidents are just a few of the many domestic violence incidents that go unreported.

There are more than a dozen bills making their way through the capitol right now with the goal of protecting victims and strengthening penalties for abusers.

Senator Anwar is co-sponsoring several domestic violence related bills that range from raising penalties for intimate partner murders, and preventing domestic abusers from receiving alimony.

“We need to identify ways of raising awareness, shining a light on this issue, ad continue to make sure these punishments are in sync with what this does to an individual,” says Anwar.

The Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence says there are some warning signs to be on the lookout for.

“Having to know everywhere you’re going, starting to call or harass you at your work place, those are some fear red flags that are not physical but have some psychological or emotional elements of abuse there,” says Meghan Scanlon of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Anwar says the legislation he is sponsoring now moves to the judiciary committee and expects there will be a public hearing on those topics soon.

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