A 30-year-old woman and her friend were arrested by the Soladevanahalli police for allegedly strangulating her husband to death when he caught them red-handed at her house on February 25.

The accused later made it look like the victim, Umashankar, had died due to excessive consumption of alcohol and tried to cremate the body, the police said. However, relatives of Umashankar alerted the police, who went to the spot and sent the body for post-mortem before arresting the duo on Monday.

Th accused Sukhita, and her friend Srinivas, a cab driver, were charged with murder and remanded in judicial custody.

According to the police, Sukhita was married to Umashankar, a construction labourer, 10 years ago. The couple have two children. The family was living in a rented house in Dasenahalli.

The police said Sukhita had an extra-marital affair with her neighbour Srinivas for two years. Umashankar came to know about this, and this led to frequent fights between the couple.

On February 25, Umashankar came home inebriated and went to sleep. Sukhita invited Srinivas home. However, Umashankar woke up in the middle of the night and caught the duo red-handed. A heated argument ensued in the midst of which Srinivas and Sukhita overpowered Umashankar and suffocated him to death, the police said.

The next day, Sukhita informed neighbours that Umashankar had died due to excess consumption of alcohol and started preparing for the cremation.

Relatives of Umashankar alerted the police. The police, on examination, did not find any injury or strangulation marks. However, based on a complaint by Ashwathappa, one of the relatives, the police registered a case of unnatural death and sent the body for post mortem and later sought a detailed report from FSL. The FSL report confirmed that death was due to asphyxiation. Police picked up Sukhita for questioning. She confessed to the crime, said Shashi Kumar, DCP, north division.