FOUR boys and a girl aged from five months to eight years were slashed to death yesterday by a man suffering from schizophrenia in Chiang Mai's Chai Prakarn district. A woman who was the mother of three of the children was injured.
Asapa Siwua, 22, who police said had been released from Suan Prung Psychiatric Hospital in Chiang Mai a month ago, allegedly went inside a house next to his house with a large knife and killed the children. They were identified as Wasant Sae Ying, Ahow Sae Ying, Singju Sae Ying, Hao Sang Sae Ying and Theerawut Denwipailertlam.
Yikor Sae Jern, the mother of two boys and one girl who were killed, sustained a knife wound from her face to her ear. One boy was Yikor's nephew and another her neighbour's son. Some of the children suffered deep throat wounds.Pol Lt Col Sombat Kalasuk, an investigator from Chai Prakarn police, said they suspect the children were playing and making noise, which drove Asapa to become psychotic and brutally kill the children with the knife.
After allegedly killing the children, the man went back inside his own house with the knife. People from the neighbourhood learnt about the incident and surrounded his house but did not go inside, fearing he may attack them.
But when police arrived and got the suspect out of his house, people outside bashed the suspect, injuring him.
The bodies of the children will undergo an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Police will probe to find the suspect's motivation.