Man ‘kills’ wife after tiff over curry

A labourer set his wife ablaze after an altercation over the quality of mutton curry at their house in Mailardevpally, the police said on Thursday.

The victim, Sulochana, worked as a maid in Begum Bazaar and lived along with her family at Katedan. On Sunday, her husband, Shanker Rao Chinde (50), brought some meat home and asked her to prepare a curry.

“The woman prepared the curry and served it to Shanker Rao. The man, who was in an inebriated state, picked up a quarrel with the woman and argued that the mutton curry did not taste good. He later assaulted the woman and set her ablaze after dousing her with kerosene,” Inspector Mailardevpally S. Venkat Reddy said, adding that the woman’s mother was also present in the house at the time of the incident.

The woman sustained severe burns and was rushed to Osmania General Hospital.

She succumbed to burns on Thursday afternoon. The police arrested Shanker on Wednesday and remanded him.

A case under 307 (attempt to murder) and 498A (husband of woman subjecting her to cruelty) of the IPC was registered against him. “We will charge him with murder,” the Inspector said.