Bardiya man arrested on charge of ‘murdering’ wife

Police on Wednesday arrested a 52-year-old man on the charge of beating his wife to death . Krishna Bahadur Ranabhat of Kalika-7 was held as he allegedly murdered his wife Narayani, 46. Neighbours claimed the husband thrashed her to death following a drunken brawl. According to them, the couple often drank alcohol together and quarrelled. Narayani was found dead in the courtyard of her residence in Seulibazaar on Wednesday morning. The body had serious injuries in the head and chest. The locals immediately informed police about the incident. “They quarrelled almost every day under the influence of alcohol,” said local resident Uddav Neupane, adding that the couple signed an agreement two weeks ago in the presence of villagers promising not to fight again. The Ranabhat couple invited their nephew and niece to the house on Tuesday to celebrate the Saunesakranti festival. The nasty incident happened as the invitees went to bed after dinner. “We were unaware about the incident until we saw her lying dead in the morning,” said niece Raj Kumari. Mahadutta Gautam, a villager, said it was a murder as a stick, some broken bangles and beads were recovered from a nearby paddy field. Gautam said the perpetrator might have chased the victim to the field and beat her to death . Meanwhile, local people vented their anger on police who reached the incident site and prepared a report saying that they could see nothing suspicious there. The situation remained tense as the villagers snatched away the report from the security personnel.