THANE: She saw her brother approach her menacingly with a "blood-soaked butcher's knife" saying now it was her turn to be killed, the lone survivor of the Sunday's macabre killings of 14 members of a family in Thane, Subiya Barmar, told the police as she recounted the horror.
Subiya's brother Hasnain Warekar, 35, had killed 14 members of his family, including his parents, wife, sisters and children, by slitting their throats with a knife after offering them drinks laced with sedatives at the family's house in Kasarvadawali area on outskirts of Thane, and then committed suicide by hanging himself.
In a chilling testimony, Subiya, 22, told a team of investigators from Thane police at the hospital that "she saw her brother holding a blood-stained butcher's knife in his hand and approaching her shouting that he has killed everyone in the family and it was her turn now".
But as the luck would have it, as soon as Hasnain came close to his sister, she pushed him out of the door, but not before he had stabbed her on the neck and inflicted cuts on the fingers of her left hand, said police sources privy to the investigation.
Subiya, in her statement, chronicled the events of Sunday and narrated how the family members had gathered and enjoyed the 'dawat' (feast) arranged by her brother and had retired to bed when Hasnain went on a killing spree.
She said at around 3 AM, she heard some sound and in the dim light, saw her brother slit throats of family members one by one, before turning towards her.
Subiya said she locked herself in a room and raised an alarm which was heard by neighbours, who later rushed in, rescued her, and took her to a hospital, where she is still convalescing.
"I learnt my brother committed suicide later on," she told the police.
Meanwhile, a close relative of the family, Liyakat Dhole, told PTI that the Warekars were a highly respected family among the 42 villages of Kokani Muslims in Thane.
"One thing I can say, is that it was Allah's wish that she stays alive to tell everyone the story...that's why the shaitan (devil) let her go," he said.
Earlier, Joint Commissioner of Police Ashutosh Dumbare had said they are considering all the angles like property dispute, psychological disorder, etc, behind the killings.
Police had also learnt from neighbours that Hasnain used to slaughter goats for 'kurbani' (sacrifice) ritual and therefore knew how to use a butcher's knife that was used in the crime.
Hasnain, a commerce graduate, used to prepare Income Tax-related documents with a CA firm in Navi Mumbai and did not have any permanent job, according to police.