Taipei- A Taiwan man who drove two nails into his forehead is recovering from the wounds, but faces charges of defamation for accusing his "mainland Chinese wife" of attempting to murder him, a media report said Saturday.

On August 15, Lin Shang-mian, 71, a retired man in Pingtung City, was rushed to hospital with a 6-centimetre nail and a 5-centimetre screw lodged in his forehead, cable TV channel TVBS reported.

Lin told police that his wife from China, Chen Xiuduan, 45, put him to sleep by giving him a drink laced with sleeping pills, and drove the nail and screw into his head to try to kill him.

Chen, who arrived in Taiwan seven years ago to join Lin, denied the charge.

On Friday, Lin admitted to police that he did it to himself, because police had found out Chen, who arrived in Taiwan seven years ago, was a false mainland wife and was going to deport her to China.

Over the past seven years, Chen has been paying him 5,000 Taiwan dollars (160 US dollars) per month as arranged by a human-smuggling ring. If Chen was deported, Lin would no longer get the money.

Lin said his despair led him to commit suicide. After drinking some liquor to numb his nerves, he held up a brick to drive a nail and a screw into his forehead.

TVBS said police plan to charge Lin with defamation for accusing his Chen of trying to kill him. (dpa)