In a gruesome incident, a poverty-stricken man from Pakistan's Punjab province axed his wife and seven children to death, said the police, reported news agency PTI.
A labourer by profession, Sajjad Khohar attacked his wife Kausar, 42, and seven children including four daughters and three sons, aged between eight months and 10 years, with an axe killing them on spot in Muzaffargarh's Alipur district, some 350 kilometres from Lahore.
Among the slain children were Ansa(8), Kanza(7), Ramsha(5), Shehnaz(4), Anas(3), Subha(2), and four-month old Manza, as per a report by ARY News.
According to the police, the accused was mentally disturbed over financial issues and often had quarrels with his wife.
The accused has been arrested and a case has been registered against him, the report added. The suspect confessed to his crime claiming that he had taken this extreme step as he could not feed his children any more, the police said.
A heavy contingent of the police including SDPO Alipur, SHO President Ismat Abbas and dedicated teams reached the spot from where they arrested Abbas, according to Samaa.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif took notice of the incident and expressed her grief over killing of innocent children.
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She also sought a report from the Inspector General of Police over the incident.
Last month, an allegedly mentally unstable man brutally murdered two senior citizens by attacking them with an axe in the Koodan hamlet of Boisar, Palghar district, Maharashtra.
"An allegedly mentally disturbed man killed two senior citizens by attacking them with an axe, in the Koodan village of Boisar area. The police arrested him from a mud pond in the nearby forest area," Palghar Police stated.