Hyderabad, April 23 (IANS): A businessman here was arrested on Thursday on charges of strangling his wife, a former air hostess, after she allegedly refused to serve him food.

Hyderabad Police arrested businessman Sachin Uppal and his friend Rakesh, who allegedly did nothing to prevent the crime.

Sachin, who was being questioned for last three days, finally confessed that he strangled Ritu Sarin, 28, to death with a pillow at their flat in in Ramanthapur on Sunday night.

The couple, who married in 2013, has a five-month-old child.

According to police, Sachin and Rakesh had consumed liquor and came to house with a packet of 'biryani'.

Ritu, who was watching television, refused to serve the food.

Sachin snatched the TV remote from her and changed the channel. The couple had a heated argument in the presence of Rakesh.

Feeling insulted in front of his friend, Sachin slapped his wife. He then asked Rakesh to leave. After bolting the door from inside, he allegedly strangled her to death.

Rakesh, who was standing outside the flat, did not alert anybody. Sachin then called Ritu's relatives to say she had fallen unconscious.

They shifted her to a hospital where doctors declared her dead.

Mystery shrouded the death as Sachin initially told police that he had only slapped her. He also said Ritu might have committed suicide.

Forensic experts on Tuesday conducted a second autopsy as the first one did not provide any clue about the possible cause of death.

Ritu's parents, who are from Jharkhand, alleged that their daughter was murdered for dowry.

"He brutally killed her in front of the child. He should be severely punished," said Ritu's mother Ujala Sarin.

They said Sachin had been harassing her for dowry and forcing her to demand a share in the family property in Jamshedpur.

He had also forced her to quit her job with Jet Airways and had taken the entire money paid by the company as final settlement.