Thane massacre: Lone survivor was saved by a cold

The only thing that saved Sobiya Bharmal from becoming the 15th victim of her brotherrsquos murderous rampage was her cold which is the reason she didnrsquot drink the cold drink that had been spiked with sedatives But this is cold comfort to the 22yearold who witnessed her brother butchering her entire family including her infant daughter Alfiya Her only consolation is that her husband Sozab was spared as he was not part of the family gatheringAlso read Man kills self after butchering 14 members of family in ThaneSobiya Bharmal watched her parents siblings and her only child ndash fivemonthold Alfiya inset ndash be murdered on Saturday nightAfter she was rescued and taken to hospital Crime Branch officers tried to soothe her telling her not to worry her daughter was safe Sobiya looked at us in anger and said Donrsquot try to fool me I know everyone is dead I saw the incident with my own eyes and not a single person is alive said an officerSobiyarsquos husband SozabAs was their custom the Warekar family came together for a weekend daawat at the accused Hasnainrsquos Kasarwadavli residence On Saturday he sent a rickshaw to pick up Sobiya the youngest of the Warekar siblings but told her husband to join them the next dayAfter the family feasted on chicken and kebabs Hasnainrsquos wife Jabin offered everyone cold drinks unaware that they had been laced with sedatives ldquoEveryone had the cold drink except Sobiya She refused it since she had a cold Hasnain must have not noticed thisrdquo stated an officer who is part of the investigationsAlso ReadThane massacre Killer used qurbani knife to slaughter familyldquoSobiya said that although she hadnrsquot had the drink everyone else had and they were unconscious But she was awake and she saw her brother slitting their throatsrdquo added the officerThe investigators believe that if Hasnain had realised that Sobiya had not consumed the spiked drink he would have killed her first It was her good fortune that this did not happen Instead he started with the family members sleeping on the upper floor of the groundplusone house quickly moving down to the ground floor where Sobiya saw him murdering the rest He moved towards her last but she struggled when he tried to slit her throat With a gash on her throat Sobiya pushed past him and locked herself into one of the roomsAlso ReadThane mass murder How family feast turned into massacreldquoMujhe bachao muje bachao Bhai jaan ne sab ko maar daala wo mujhe bhi maar dalega bachaorsquo These were the screams the neighbours heard through the walls in the dead of the nightldquoI was asleep when I heard the scream so I thought it was in my dream But when I heard the scream again I woke my son Altamash up It was 330 am at the timerdquo said the neighbour Sahista who is also a Warekar The village is hub of Warekars Konkani Muslims who have been settled there for over a centuryThe neighbourrsquos son Altamash 22 immediately understood who the murderer was mdash Bhaijaan could only have referred to Hasnain the sole brother among the five Warekar siblings He opened his door with trepidation to check whether Hasnain was there He then moved closer to Hasnainrsquos house and what he saw through the window shocked himldquoI saw two dead bodies in a pool of blood I also saw that Hasnain had hanged himself I began knocking on the neighbours doors ndash most of them are relatives ndash to warn themrdquo recalled AltamashTogether the neighbours tried to rescue Sobiya but she was so terrified she refused to open the door to them Unable to convince her that Hasnain was dead they persuaded her to at least open the window to her room ldquoWe were banging on the door but she was scared and would not open the door We assured her that we were her neighbours but she still refused When she finally opened the sliding window we cut the grille pulled her out and took her to Titan Hospitalrdquo added AltamashOn the way Sobiya told them how she had escaped her brother She told them lsquoI was asleep when I saw Hasnain killing my sister with a sharp knife on the throat He slit my daughterrsquos throat too I saw what was happening but couldnrsquot reactrdquoBut when Hasnain went towards her Sobiya stood up and fought him She was injured on her neck and cheek but managed to run past him and save herself Hasnain knocked on the door but she started yelling for help