The incident took place yesterday when the victim Sanju was mercilessly beaten up by Raju at their rented house. The couple had a fight following which Raju strangulated his wife to death, they said.
Their children are the witnesses to the crime, police said.
Raju, an alcoholic, fled his house this morning, they said.
The body has been sent for postmortem, police said, adding that investigation is on in the matter.