The police on Thursday said that a man from Navi Mumbai allegedly burnt his 32-year-old wife to death over suspicion of having an extra-marital affair and tried to pass it off as a suicide, reported news agency PTI.

However, his lies were nailed as the couple`s seven-year-old daughter, who apparently witnessed the incident, told the police that her father had set her mother on fire, they said, reported PTI.

The incident took place in the early hours of August 25 at Pagotegaon in Uran area and the accused, aged 35, was arrested the next day, they said.

The accused, Rajkumar Ramshiromani Sahu, suspected his wife Jagrani Rajkumar Sahu of having an extra-marital affair, Uran police station`s senior inspector Hanif Mulani told PTI, reported PTI.

He allegedly tied the victim`s hands and legs, poured kerosene on her, and set her ablaze with a lighter at their home in Uran, he said.

The woman was later rushed to a hospital where doctors declared her dead on arrival, the official said.

The accused had claimed his wife locked herself inside a room in the house and committed suicide, following which a case of accidental death was registered initially, he said.

“But our investigation found discrepancies in his story,” Mulani said, reported PTI.

Further investigation, including the autopsy report and a crucial statement from the couple`s seven-year-old daughter, revealed a very different picture, he said.

“The accused had claimed that his wife locked herself inside the room and committed suicide. But the child`s statement contradicted the husband`s version,” the official said, reported PTI.

Police also examined CCTV footage of the locality and it clearly showed the accused leaving the house in the early hours after the incident, he said.

“This was a vital evidence, contradicting the man`s claim that he was not present at home at the time of the incident,” the official said, reported PTI.

Based on the medical and forensic evidence and version of the eyewitness, the Uran police registered a case against the accused under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 103(1) (murder) on August 26 and arrested him, he said.

“It a clear-cut case of murder. We have no doubt that this was a brutal act of domestic violence,” the official said, reported PTI.

Further probe was on into the case.

(With inputs from PTI)

This article first appeared on Mid Day