A man allegedly hacked his five-year-old nephew to death with an axe and injured his sister-in-law after she did not give him tobacco at their home in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district, police said on Sunday.

The police have arrested the accused, Ramla Kol (30), for the incident that occurred in Barkachh village under Beohari police station limits on Saturday night, an official said.

Kol had asked for tobacco from Sukkhi Bai (35), his elder brother’s wife, but she denied his request saying she did not have the substance at home, Beohari police station in-charge Mohan Padwar said.

Angered by this, the accused broke into the woman’s house around 11 pm, attacked the woman and her son with an axe while they were asleep, and fled from the spot, he said.

The boy was killed in the attack, while the woman sustained injuries and is undergoing treatment, the official said.

The accused has been arrested under section 302 (murder) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, he said.

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