Man, pregnant wife dragged out of home, brutally hacked to death by family members

A man and his pregnant wife were dragged out of their home and brutally murdered by their relatives over a property dispute. The couple's two children were in the house when the gory crime was committed.

The incident occurred in the eastern Indian state of Bihar on Saturday. According to police, the victims and the accused lived in the same neighborhood. The deceased couple, identified as Shashi Thakur and his wife Sangeeta Devi, got into a fight with their relatives, following which they were dragged out of their home and brutally stabbed to death. Both victims had their throats slashed.

"It seems the couple had just woken up soon after which a dispute took place and they were murdered by slashing throats using sharp-edged objects," a police officer said, local daily The Times of India reported.

The relatives then dumped their bodies in a small pit and fled the scene.

Investigation revealed that Shashi was involved in a property dispute with his relatives and had recently filed a title suit in the court over an ancestral property, Times Now News reported.

Police said that a few neighbors heard that Shashi was the one who first attacked his relatives with sharp-edged objects.

"Afterwards the cousins and nephews attacked Shashi and his wife and killed them. Sangeeta's mother Ahilya Devo has lodged an FIR against 17 family members alleging that they all dragged the couple out of their house and killed them," the officer told the Times Of India.

Two relatives of the victims were reportedly injured in the incident. They were treated at the hospital and taken into custody. As of Sunday, the prime accused in the case was on the run.

The deceased woman, Sangeeta was approximately five months pregnant. The couple's two sons, aged two and three years, were in the house when their parents were dragged outside and killed.

In another incident earlier in September, a 20-year-old man in Nigeria was beaten to death by his father and siblings for allegedly bringing disgrace to the family. After killing the man, his body was buried in a shallow grave near their home. All the three accused were taken into custody and charged with murder.