Nabarangpur: A man set his 25-year-old wife and six-month-old daughter on fire at a village in the in the early hours of Thursday.

Police said the accused, Tankadhar Bhatra of Chirima village in Kodinga police limits, poured kerosene on his wife Neela and their daughter and set them on fire suspecting his wife had cheated on him. He later gave himself up to the police.

"The deceased was the third wife of the accused and they had got married three years ago. Of late, Tankadhar had started to suspect that she was cheating on him and they fought frequently," said Papdahandi sub-divisional police officer Bijay Kumar Naik.

The police said around 15 days ago, the couple had a heated exchange and approached the village sarpanch.

"The man suspected that his wife had an extra-martial affair and the daughter was not his," Naik said.

"On Thursday morning in a fit of anger, the man poured kerosene on the woman and the child and set them on fire. The two died on the spot."

A case under section 498 (A) (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 302 (Punishment for murder) and 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal code has been registered against the accused.