The 41-year-old man alleged to have struck his wife several times with a cane knife at Navoalevu outside Labasa causing her death has been charged.

He has been charged with one count of murder and will be produced at the Labasa Magistrates Court today.

The man was arrested from his home in Daku after allegedly committing the gruesome crime in front of his wife’s parents.

The suspect and victim had been living apart for the past two months and it is not known what triggered him to commit the crime.

He allegedly struck his wife several times outside of the house and then followed her inside the house again where he continued the attack.

The alleged attack was witnessed by the woman’s father, mother, and her two-year eight-month-old daughter.