Kendrapara, June 18: A 38-year-old man stabbed his wife, sarpanch of the local gram panchayat, to death because she did not serve him food on time. The incident occurred yesterday at Dashipur village, about 25km from here.

“The accused, Arakhita Mallick, repenting and in shock, rushed to the police station to confess his guilt,” said Mrutunjaya Swain, inspector of Marshaghai police station.

“It was the tragic outcome of a domestic feud where a trivial issue like the delayed serving of food enraged the man to kill his wife,” Swain said. “Arakhita, who was jobless, was allegedly not getting on well with his wife, Manorama, 35, since she got elected as sarpanch about four years ago. As the sarpanch commanded respect from the people, he was getting an inferiority complex and frequently picked up quarrels with her over petty things. Last night things took a turn for the worse,” Swain said quoting the confessional statement of the accused.

Police later retrieved the body lying in a pool of blood in the couple’s Dashipur house. Manorama was the sitting sarpanch of Balana-Dashipur gram panchayat under Marshaghai police station’s jurisdiction.

“Arakhita Mallick hacked his wife with an axe late yesterday night. The deceased’s head bore a deep wound. The victim bled profusely and died on the spot,” said Swain.

The incident occurred when the couple’s minor daughters were fast asleep in an adjoining room,” said Swain.

The accused immediately rushed to the police station to confess his crime. “We were shocked to hear it. The accused was visibly was repentant. The axe he used to kill his spouse has been seized. The body was later sent for post-mortem. The assailant was later forwarded to court,” Swain added.