Thamarassery, Kozhikode: In a shocking incident, a young man allegedly hacked his ailing mother to death at their residence here on Saturday. The deceased has been identified as Subaida, 53. Her son, Ashiq, 24, was apprehended by locals and handed over to the police following the incident.

The attack happened in the afternoon, when Ashiq reportedly bought a knife from a neighbor under the pretext of chopping coconuts. He then used the knife to fatally assault his mother.

Subaida and Ashiq had been living with Subaida's sister, Saqina, for some time. Saqina stated that Ashiq, who had completed his Plus Two and enrolled in an automobile course, became addicted to drugs after joining college.

Ashiq’s behavior had been problematic on several occasions, and it was reported that locals once caught him causing trouble and handed him over to the police. Following this incident, he underwent treatment at de-addiction centers. Saqina mentioned that Ashiq had returned from Bengaluru a week ago and had gone out with his friends four days before the incident. He came back home on Friday night, and there were no significant issues at that time.

On Saturday, Saqina went out to work, leaving Subaida and Ashiq at home.

Subaida, who has a brain tumor, was recently recovering from surgery. It is not clear whether Ashiq had an argument with Subaida on Saturday. Ashiq, who left home in the afternoon, went to a neighbor's house and asked for a machete. He said that he needed it to break a coconut. With this in hand, Ashiq entered the house and hacked Subaida to death.

Subaida was found lying in a pool of blood in the dining hall. According to locals, she had already died before being taken to the hospital.