Man hacks to death 8 members of his family in Madhya Pradesh; later hangs himself

Chhindwara: A "mentally disturbed" man allegedly hacked to death eight members of his joint family with an axe in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district on Wednesday and later committed suicide by hanging himself, police said.

The incident took place at around 2:30 am in Bodal Kachhar village and the reason behind it was not yet clear, they said.

The man, identified as Dinesh Sariyam (26), who was "mentally disturbed", got married on May 21, Superintendent of Police (SP) Manish Khatri told reporters.

He allegedly hacked to death his wife, mother, sister, brother, the latter's wife and three minor children. The man later also attacked another nephew but he managed to escape from the spot, the official said.

A woman raised an alarm early in the morning following which police rushed to the spot and tried to search for the man, but he was later found hanging from a tree, Khatri said.

The bodies were sent for an autopsy and the injured person was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Chhindwara.

Prima facie, a probe suggested the man was mentally unstable, according to officials.

Further investigation was on into the incident, the SP said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed grief over the incident and directed minister Sampatia Uikey to rush to Chhindwara and visit the other family members of the deceased.

BJP minister and MLA from Mandla Sampatia Uikey visited the village to take stock of the situation. Talking to reporters she said that government will extend all possible help including financial to injured and bereaved families to conduct last rites. The opposition should not politicize the issue, she added.

Congress has hit out at ruling BJP for lawlessness and alleged jungle raj in the state. PCC chief Jitu Patwari in a press conference on Wednesday said that government has miserably failed to address pertinent issues and contain crime in the state despite repeated protest and agitation by congress.

Patwari said it is an eye-opener and a classic case of extreme poverty, financial scarcity, plight of farmers/laborers and unemployment prevailing in the state.

The BJP government had earlier announced setting up of ‘Anand Vibhag’ aimed to provide relief from stress but operationalized on the ground. He said the Congress will compile/release a white paper containing crime details of 2 and half months including methods of its redressal. "We as responsible opposition will not allow the state to be tagged as Jungle Raj," he claimed.

With PTI inputs.