Chamarajanagar: A man slapped his wife for serving tea that was sour, resulting in her death in Chamarajanagar yesterday.

The incident was reported from Kellamballi village. The woman has been identified as 24-year-old Mamatha, wife of Shivakumar.

According to the Police and family members, Mamatha, daughter of B.C. Raju and Suvarnamma, a resident of Mahadeshwara Layout in Chamarajanagar, married Shivakumar five years back. The couple has two children aged four and one year.

Yesterday morning, Mamatha served tea to Shivakumar and he complained that the tea was sour. He scolded Mamatha and picked up a quarrel with her. After some arguments, Shivakumar slapped Mamatha and she collapsed. Seeing his dead wife, Shivakumar, in order to conceal the crime, hung her body to the house ceiling.

Mamatha’s parents said that after killing their daughter, Shivakumar took his elder son to the school and came to their (in-law’s) house at Mahadeshwara Layout. Shivakumar’s mother-in-law Suvarnamma told the Police that Shivakumar had breakfast in her house and had told her that Mamatha had picked up a quarrel with him and she was upset about that.

Suvarnamma said that after Shivakumar returned to Kellamballi he telephoned her and said that Mamatha had committed suicide. Panicked by their son-in-law’s phone call, Suvarnamma and her husband Raju rushed to Kellamballi where they found their daughter dead.

Suspecting the role of Shivakumar in their daughter’s death, Mamatha’s parents told the Police that he would have killed her. The Police arrested Shivakumar and during interrogation, he confessed to the crime.

Additional SP Geetha Prasanna, Dy.SP Gangadhar Swamy and Inspector Anandegowda visited the spot.