Cab driver arrested for setting wife ablaze after argument

Chennai, Aug 9: A 30-year-old cab driver who allegedly murdered his wife by setting her ablaze in his car after a heated argument here was arrested today.

Police said Nagaraj and his wife Prema were travelling in the car with their two minor children yesterday when they had an argument, following which he poured petrol on her, set her ablaze and ran out of the vehicle. Prema managed to save her children by breaking the window panes of the car and throwing them out, a city police release said.

Nagaraj himself took his wife and children to a nearby government hospital in an ambulance. Prema succumbed to burn injuries at the hospital, while the two children suffered minor injuries She had reportedly given a dying declaration about her husband's act to police. Nagaraj was arrested today, the release said, adding he was remanded to custody. The two used to frequently quarrel over Nagaraj not giving money for family expenses, it said.

PTI