A woman in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, was in a coma in an intensive care unit from severe heat stroke after her husband made her stay in the summer heat for a long time, cnnb.com.cn, a local news portal, reported on Thursday.

The 43-year-old woman, surnamed Ni, reportedly suffers from an obsessive-compulsive disorder that causes her to wash her hands frequently.

At noon on July 30, the woman washed her hands as usual, which aroused the discontent of her husband, surnamed Chen. Chen sent her outside and told her to reflect upon her "mistakes".

The outside temperature then was about 40 C, and the woman stayed there the whole afternoon.

In the evening, the woman began to show symptoms of heat stroke, and was taken to hospital.

Doctors said the woman suffered serious heat stroke and her brain was affected as a result of exposure to the heat for a long time.