Kolkata, Oct 11 : An elderly man brutally hacked his wife to death with a sharp weapon and surrendered before the police in West Burdwan district's Durgapur, the police said on Saturday.

The incident took place last night in the Dhobighat area of the ''Durgapur police station. The police have arrested the accused, who has been identified as Durgadas Kar (75). He is a tutor by profession. The name of the deceased woman is Mukul Kar (65). The couple's only child is Shantanu Kar.

The police recovered the body and sent it to the Durgapur Sub-divisional Hospital for an autopsy. The Durgapur police station has started an investigation to find out the reason for this brutal murder.

Asansol-Durgapur ACP (Durgapur) Subir Roy said that the accused himself said that his wife used to neglect him and did not take care of him, adding that she did not even feed him properly.

'Once the autopsy report comes, it will be ascertained how the murder was committed. We are conducting a full investigation into this. We are interrogating the accused. An investigation is on to find out whether anyone else was involved in this incident,' said ACP Roy.

Son of the accused elderly man, Shantanu Kar, said, "My father has tried to kill me and my mother many times before. We were able to save ourselves in previous incidents. My father would get angry at the drop of a hat. He would scold my mother if there was a small stain on the bread. My father could not tolerate me either. I heard that my father had married another woman before. I don't know where he got married."

According to him, he was out giving a tuition when neighbours called him and informed him about the incident.

"When I came home, I saw that my mother had glass fragments all over her body. My mother was first beaten up with a photo frame, then my father hacked her to death with a sharp weapon. I don't know if anyone else was with my father in this. I want exemplary punishment for my father," said the son.

/IANS