A top German diplomat has been arrested in Brazil accused of beating his husband to death in their apartment.

Uwe Herbert Hahn – a consul in Rio de Janeiro – is also accused of lying to police about how his Belgian husband of over 20 years died.

Hahn, who local media have reported was married to Biot for 23 years, had reportedly claimed victim Walter Henri Maximilien Biot, 52, had fallen from their apartment in the Ipanema neighbourhood after suddenly becoming unwell and suffering a “fit”.

But police have said that forensics officers found bloodstains in the couple’s apartment and an autopsy showed multiple wounds on Biot’s body.

Envoy Hahn had called police to report his husband’s accidental death on Friday (5th August) but was arrested on suspicion of murder the following day.

Police investigator Camila Lourenco told reporters: “The circumstances of the death are evident.

“We realised there was a violent death from the traces of injury on different parts of the body.”

The German Foreign Ministry in Berlin has said that its embassy in Brazilia and consulate in Rio de Janeiro are in close contact with the Brazilian authorities investigating the case.

It declined to give any further details due to ongoing investigations.