60-year-old drunk man allegedly shot wife over delay in serving dinner in north India

A 60-year-old man allegedly shot dead his wife over delay in serving dinner at their house in Ghaziabad, a city in the Uttar Pradesh, India late on Saturday night (8 July). The accused, Ashok Kumar, was arrested on Sunday.

"After coming home late, he [the accused] had asked his wife, 55-year-old Sunaina, to serve dinner but the preparations were a bit delayed. When he asked her the reason, she said that she was annoyed by his actions as he had come home drunk. He then slapped her and she objected to his misbehaviour," Surendra Singh, officiating station house officer, Kavi Nagar police station said.

The accused, annoyed by the state of affairs, reportedly pulled out a "countrymade weapon" and shot the victim, Singh added.

The crime took place around 11.45pm local time. The victim was rushed to the Sarvodaya Hospital with a gunshot wound on her head.

Police have also seized the countrymade weapon used in the incident.

Doctors at the hospital declared her dead on arrival. "The patient was already dead by the time she was brought to the hospital. There was no pulse on her," Neeraj Garg, a doctor at the hospital, told Times of India newspaper.

"Around 9pm, my father returned home drunk and asked my mother for dinner around 11pm. A quarrel broke out between them as my mother refused to serve food immediately. Infuriated over the delay, my father whipped out a gun and threatened her. I, my wife and Tinku tried to intervene. But he opened fire and the bullet hit my mother on her head. She collapsed at the spot," Rinku (32), elder son of the couple said.