A woman was strangled and then her body set on fire by her husband in the capital's South Mugda yesterday, police said

The victim, Hashi Begum, 27, was a housewife and the mother of a seven-year-old boy. She had her son from her first marriage with one Sujon.

Police detained her husband Komol Hossain, 30, a motor parts shop owner, from near his rented flat in South Mugda in the morning.

In the evening, Hashi's father Sheikh Altaf, from Dinajpur, filed a murder case with Mugda Police Station, accusing Komol as the lone suspect.

Proloy Kumar Saha, officer-in-charge of the police station, said the incident might have taken place over marital dispute.

Police recovered the body around 8:30am from the couple's flat on the first floor of a five-storey building on information from their neighbours, he said.

Referring to the information given by the suspect during primary interrogation, OC Proloy said Sujon used to keep contact with Hashi to stay in touch with their son.

However, Komol did not take the matter lightly, he said, adding that the couple had a fight over the matter that morning.

At one point, Komol strangled Hashi to death and then set her body on fire.

Police suspect the arson was either to dispose of the body or destroy evidence to steer the case to a different direction.

During primary interrogation, Komol confessed to committing the crime, the OC said.