PHOTOS: Pregnant woman 'fights off' ex-husband by throwing boiling water on him after he kidnapped, raped her

A pregnant woman violently attacked her ex-husband by throwing boiling water on him after he allegedly kidnapped and raped her in the southern Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

The 20-year-old woman who is yet to be named accused her former partner, also 20, of kidnapping her in a car with the help of her brother and another woman.

The ex-husband reportedly kept her captive, tortured her and repeatedly raped her, but she was able to fight him off by throwing boiling water on him.

Mail Online reported that the woman, who is four months pregnant, had been reported missing before police found her the following day in a house where she was allegedly being kept as a prisoner.

According to Brazilian authorities, the suspect confessed to having carried out the crimes and said the victim took advantage of a moment of carelessness to throw boiling water over him.

Images taken by police in the town of Eldorado shows the suspect face, neck, and upper chest seriously burnt in the counter-attack.

The suspect is said to have told investigators he committed the crimes as he could not accept that his ex-wife had broken up with him seven months earlier and started seeing another man.

The victim who showed signs of having been assaulted with cuts to her fingers and bruising to the back of her head was taken to the local Iguatemi Municipal Hospital for tests, according to the report.

Chief investigator Pablo Reis said the prisoner will respond to the crimes of kidnapping, false imprisonment, torture and rape.

He also added that the victim's brother and another female suspect who allegedly helped kidnap her were also arrested but have not yet been charged.