Keonjhar: A 32-year-old man allegedly burnt his wife alive suspecting her of infidelity in the district.

Police arrested the man, and he confessed to the crime. The accused has been identified as Anirudha Mahapatra, and the incident reportedly took place on March 11 at Lakshmipur village.

Mahapatra, who was staying outstation, suspected that his wife was cheating on him and made up his mind to kill her. While she was asleep, he sprinkled kerosene and set her ablaze and fled, said a police officer.

The victim, Sumanlata Nayak, who had suffered 80 per cent burn injuries, died on Saturday after undergoing treatment for a week at Keonjhar district headquarters hospital. When the house was burning, the woman, trapped in the inferno, cried for help. Local residents risked their lives to drag her out of the house and took her to the hospital. However, Mahapatra was nowhere in sight when his wife was battling for life. The accused after setting his wife on fire had fled the spot.

Mahapatra was arrested after the victim's mother, Mauna Nayak, had lodged a compliant. The accused was booked under the Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder) and 436 (setting house on fire). Mahapatra was produced in a local court and remanded to jail custody after his bail application had been rejected.

The needle of suspicion was pointed towards Mahapatra as he had been missing when the house was on fire. The complaint lodged by the deceased's mother lent credence to the suspicion. The police started searching for him and he was arrested following the tracking of his phone, said Harichandanpur police station inspector Gurubari Hembrum.