Chennai, Jul 18 (PTI): Irate over his wife not cooking meat for a relative, a 30-year-old man murdered his wife by strangling her while she was asleep at their residence in Ernavoor on Sunday night. Hours after murdering his wife, the man hanged himself to death on Monday morning.

The couple, Mohan and Sarala,  lived with their three daughters, Mahalakshmi (8), Anu (7) and Kavya (6) at Tsunami quarters here. On Sunday afternoon, Mohan’s sister had come to their house to visit them from New Washermanpet. Police investigations revealed that the man had picked up a quarrel with his wife, chiding her for not cooking meat in spite of knowing that guests were coming home. The relative had pacified the couple and left after a few hours. “However, after Mohan’s sister left home, the man again started fighting with his wife over the same issue. The squabble had continued well into the night,” a police officer said.

Around midnight, the man had woken up and strangled his wife with bare hands, killing her in the process. The couple’s eldest daughter had witnessed this and had kept quiet out of fear, police sources said.

On Monday morning, Mohan too was found hanging in the bathroom after which the children alerted the neighbours. Police rushed to the scene and secured the bodies of the couple and moved them to the Government Stanley Hospital for autopsy. Ennore Police registered a case and took versions of Mohan’s sister and eldest daughter Mahalakshmi.