india

Updated: May 17, 2019 18:11 IST

An eight-month pregnant woman, her three children and her unborn baby were killed by a knife used to slaughter cattle allegedly over a property dispute in Bihar’s Araria district, police said on Friday.

This incident took place at Madhopara village under Bairgachhi police outpost in the district, 300km northeast of state capital Patna on Thursday night, according to officials.

The victims have been identified as 30-year-old Tabassum and her children Shabbir, 8, Aliya, 6, and Sameer, 4.

“Police have recovered the bodies and they were sent for last rites. The killers attacked the woman and her three kids soon after she opened the door to attend a call of nature,” sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) KD Singh said.

Singh said the killers used a sharp knife used in slaughtering cattle to kill the woman and her children. “Prima facie property dispute seems to be the main motive behind the killings. We are probing the matter from all angles,” he said.

He also said the woman’s husband Md Alam has lodged a complaint against four men — Md Arif, Jainuddin, Alam and Naushad — alleging that they killed his family to grab land.

“No arrests have so far been made in this connection,” the SDPO said.

Locals alleged Md Alam could be behind the murders as he had two wives and there had been a feud between them over his property.

“Criminals not only knifed the woman and her three small kids but also stabbed the unborn baby inside the womb…” one of the locals said.

Property dispute has been behind the rising incidents of crimes in Seemanchal comprising four districts of Purnia, Katihar, Kishanganj and Araria. The region has a substantial Muslim population and has witnessed crimes over property disputes either pending in courts or solved by village panchayats dictated by influential persons in the villages.