23-year-old goes on stabbing spree, kills 5 people in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a grisly pre-planned murder spree Monday evening, a 23-year-old youth killed his girlfriend, brother, grandmother, uncle and aunt, and also attempted to hack his mother to death with a machete and a hammer, at three different places at Venjaramoodu in Thiruvananthapuram, before surrendering to police.
The accused, Affan, told cops that he had killed six family members as they were reluctant to clear off the huge debts he had incurred after suffering losses in his business in a Gulf country. However, police have doubts over his version and are digging deeper to unearth more details. The mobile phone and call details of the accused are being checked to ascertain if he is addicted to drugs.
Affan's mother Shemi (47), a cancer patient, is in ICU and remains critical. Affan, too, was admitted to the hospital as he claimed to have consumed rat poison to end his life. During the medical examination, however, doctors could not confirm the presence of any poison in his body. Police said the accused first murdered his grandmother Salma Beevi (88) at her Pangode home at about 3pm. He then reached the house of his paternal uncle Abdul Latheef (58) at SN Puram near Koonanvenga, some 16 km from Pangode, and murdered him and his wife Shahida Beevi (54).
Affan then returned home at Perumala near Pullampara, and attacked his mother, brother Afzan (14) and girlfriend Farshana (19). After committing the crime, he went straight to the

Venjaramoodu police station

in an autorickshaw and surrendered. Affan and Afzan were in the Gulf with their father, Rahim, before the brothers and their mother returned to Kerala after his business ran into losses.