Man beats wife to death, tries to pass it off as accident

A 65-year-old man allegedly beat his wife to death and later tried to pass it off as a road accident in Maharashtra's Nashik district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday when Namdev Rajaram Bhor, a resident of Vinchurdalvi village, had an argument with his wife Hirabai (58) over preparing a special meal to pay homage to his deceased ancestors during the ongoing'pitra paksha', an official at Sinnar police station said.

After the quarrel, Bhor, in a fit of rage, thrashed his wife severely, following which she died, he said.

He then took the body and laid it on Bhagur-Pandhurli road nearby to make it look like an accident, he said.

Some locals spotted the body and informed the police, who rushed to the spot and observed some injury marks on the deceased's neck.

Later, the postmortem report revealed that the woman died after being assaulted and not in a road accident, the official said.

The accused was subsequently arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder), the official said.