A Behala resident dialled 100 on Thursday morning to inform police that he had killed his wife and that they should come and arrest him.
A team of officers went to the Raja Rammohan Roy Road address from where Kartick Das, 41, had called and found him sitting beside his wife’s body on the bed.
Das, father of two, was arrested from the spot.
A preliminary inquiry revealed that Das had allegedly strangled his wife Samapti, 28, around 1am on Thursday, several hours before he called the Kolkata police helpline number.
The police said Das allegedly strangled his wife while the children — 12-year-old daughter and five-year-old son —were sleeping in the same bed.
The family of four share the same bed in their single-room rented apartment.
“Like other days when the children woke up they found their mother sleeping.
The father sent them to their tuitions on Thursday morning and then called the
police,” said an officer of Behala police station.
The man has told the police that he lied down beside his wife’s body but “could not sleep”.
Deputy commissioner (southwest) of Kolkata police, Soumya Roy, said after the police reached the spot, the man confessed to his crime.
“He has confessed to his crime. He was arrested from the house,” Roy said.
Das, who runs a poultry shop in Behala, is said to have told the cops that he had strangled his wife because of her alleged relationship with another man.
One of the relatives of the deceased woman told the police that the couple would often fight.
Once, in the past, Das had allegedly been abusive towards his wife, one of them has said.
The Telegraph could not contact any of the relatives from Das’s side who could react to the allegation.
Das has been charged under the section of murder, which carries the maximum punishment of death if proved in court.
The children will stay with their grandmother, the police said.