Police in India have arrested a man who allegedly beheaded his wife with a sword after becoming upset over a delay in getting his morning tea.

The gruesome incident took place on Dec 19 in a village in the northern India state of Uttar Pradesh, reported the Indian media.

Police said the man, who was identified only as Dharamveer, had asked for his morning tea twice when he woke up and was upset that his wife, Ms Sundari, said it would take some time.

“He got angry when his wife told him it would take another 10 minutes for the tea to get ready and kicked the (kitchen) utensils away,” police superintendent Vivek Yadav told Times of India.

When the argument broke out, Dharamveer, a daily wage labourer, ran to grab a sword from another part of the house and slashed and beheaded Ms Sundari, 50, while she was still making tea.

The couple’s four children were jolted from their sleep and tried to save their mother, but Dharamveer, 52, allegedly swung the sword at them too. The children immediately retreated into their room.

Neighbours who heard the commotion rushed to the house and found Ms Sundari dead in a pool of blood, reported NDTV.

They immediately called the police, who found Dharamveer crying next to the body of wife.

He was immediately arrested while Ms Sundari’s body was sent to the hospital for post-mortem.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Gyan Prakash Rai confirmed the incident.

“Dharamveer and Sundari had a fight over making tea. He then took out a sharp weapon and attacked her on the neck from behind, which led to her immediate death.”

The couple’s son, identified only as Soldier, said his father was an avid tea drinker, drinking five to six cups of the beverage a day, and would often fight with his wife over his habit.

“If my mother refused to make tea many times or took more time than expected, he would shout at her,” he told Times of India. But until the incident happened, he had never seen his father hit his mother, he added.