Man strangles wife to death suspecting her fidelity in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: A 36-year-old man was arrested for strangling his wife to death at their house at Ganapathy here on Wednesday during a fight over her excessive use of mobile phone.
The Saravanampatti police said Chellaiya used to quarrel with his 28-year-old wife Uma Devi, a mother of two children, for talking to her friends over phone for long hours. “He had asked her to stop the excessive use of mobile phone several times, but she refused to listen to him. So, the couple used to fight over the issue often,” said a police officer.
“On Tuesday evening, the officer said, Chellaiya saw his wife speaking to her friends over phone when he returned from work and fought with her. On Wednesday morning too, they picked up a quarrel and in the heat of the moment he strangulated her with her sari,” the officer said.
Hearing the commotion, neighbours rushed to the house and alerted the Saravanampatti police, who recovered and sent the body to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) for postmortem.
During inquiry, Chellaiya confessed to the crime and said he had suspected his wife’s fidelity. “As she was always speaking over phone, he thought she was having an extra-marital affair,” the officer said.
Police have booked Chellaiya under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and produced him before a judicial magistrate, who remanded him in judicial custody.