Prima facie, it appears that Dinesh Saryam, the alleged killer who died by suicide after the cranage, was mentally disturbed, a senior police official said.

Saryam, who got married on May 21, hacked eight members of his joint family, including his wife with an axe at Bodal Kachhar village in the early hours of Wednesday.

Saryam’s mental health had deteriorated when he was working in the Hoshangabad district. His brother made him undergo treatment and got him married, the official said.

The alleged killer’s elder sister Asha Bai said his behaviour suddenly changed after marriage and he looked disturbed. He was fond of making reels on social media but did not shoot anything during his wedding festivities, she said.

After murdering his relatives, Saryam went to the house of his father’s elder brother and tried to kill a 10-year-old boy. The child woke up and escaped with grievous injuries, Chhindwara Superintendent of Police (SP) Manish Khatri said.

As he fled, the boy raised an alarm waking up his grandmother. Saryan then ran away from the spot leaving behind the axe. He later hanged himself, the official said.

All the victims were given a mass burial at their village after completing formalities in the presence of senior officials, the SP said.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has sent the state's public health engineering department minister Sampatia Uikey to the village to console the grieving family members.

Yadav also announced financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh for the family and Rs 5 lakh for the injured boy’s treatment.

The CM has also directed a probe into the incident, the official added.