Dhenkanal: A man allegedly axed his wife to death after an altercation between the two at Pangatira village under Parjang police limits in Odisha's Dhenkanal district, last night.

According to reports, Lalit Sahu had married Mita Sahu two years ago after having a love affair with the woman. However, a dispute was prevailing between the two over a particular issue.

Mita's father had yesterday filed a police complaint against Lalit, for which the latter became furious. A heated exchange of words erupted between Lalit and Mita over the matter, which took an ugly turn as he lost his cool and hacked his wife to death with an axe.

Police have recovered the body for post-mortem and started investigation. Efforts were on to trace the accused, who absconded after the incident last night.