Man kills 14 family members, commits suicide in Thane

A 32-year old man killed 14 members of his family, including seven children, and later hanged himself in a house here on Sunday, police said.

The incident took place in the city's Kasarvadavli area when the assailant Hasnain Anwar Warekar, slit the victims' throats with a large knife one after the other around 1.00 a.m. after lacing their food with drugs.

Though the motive behind the massacre is unclear, preliminary enquiries point towards a family dispute over some property matters. The victims comprise Warekar's parents, sisters and nieces-nephews, the official said.

The lone woman survivor, identified as his sister, Sabia Bharmal (22), was rushed to a local hospital where her condition is described as "critical".

"Prima facie, evidence suggest that the accused bolted all the doors and windows of the house and killed his family while they slept. Later, he hung himself near a staircase in the bungalow and the knife he used was found near his body," Thane Joint Police Commissioner Ashutosh Dumbare said.

Sabia's loud screams prompted some youths in the locality to break open the doors and windowsof the house, he said.

A forensic team has been summoned to the crime scene while the bodies have been sent for an autopsy, Dumbare added.