(ANSAmed) - Porto Empedocle (Sicily), August 17 - An Egyptian man brutally beat his pregnant wife Friday after she took off her veil in an attempt to find relief from the scorching heat.

The woman, a 20-year-old from the town of Porto Empedocle in Sicily's southern province of Agrigento, was taken to hospital for treatment.

The man, 19 years old, was stopped by police after the incident and charged with assault.

The couple live in Turin for work reasons and had come to Porto Empedocle on vacation, to visit the woman's parents. According to the woman, whose father is Tunisian, she had asked her husband's permission to remove the veil because she was having trouble breathing. The husband at first responded by yelling at her, perhaps in hope of intimidating her, she said. When she removed the veil, he beat her for her lack of respect and also threatened passersby who tried to intervene on her behalf.