A man in Punjab, India, was arrested Saturday for allegedly attacking his wife and his 17-year-old son with an axe earlier in the week after suspecting they had an affair, according to the police.

Harjit Singh has left his son Lovepreet Singh, 17, and wife Jaswinder Kaur, 38, with serious injuries after striking them with the axe multiple times at Kotla village in the city of Samrala following the attack that happened on Thursday, The Indian Express reported.

The man then fled the scene with his other 14-year-old son and was later arrested by the Khanna Police at the city of Anandpur Sahib, which is around 50 miles from Samrala.

Crime and security have been among the pressing concerns in a country with a population over 1.4 billion. The Ground Report, an Indian digital news platform, revealed that the state of Kerala has the highest crime rate at 1477.2, while Nagaland has the lowest crime rate at 67.2, according to data showing the highest Charge-sheeting rate under the Indian Penal Code Crimes. The crime rate in Punjab, where the axe attack happened, stood at 242, lower than the rates reported in neighboring states.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Waryam Singh said that the man told police he suspected that his wife developed a relationship with their own son, and therefore allegedly tried to kill them both. The suspect also confirmed to the police that he is not a drug addict.

“During questioning, the accused said that he was keeping an eye on his wife and elder son for the five days. On Thursday morning he assaulted both of them with an intention to kill them, however they survived,” said the DSP, who added that the axe was recovered from the crime scene.

The victims were transferred to a hospital in Chandigarh, but no details were revealed about their conditions or the severity of their injuries. The Indian Express, however, reported that they have undergone multiple surgeries.

Newsweek reached out by email to the Punjab Police for comment.

Axe Attacks Around the World

On Wednesday, a 25-year-old man jumped over the wall of a pre-school and killed four children between the ages of five and seven, and injured at least five others with a hatchet, a small axe, in an attack in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, The Guardian reported. Authorities said that the man, who has not been identified, turned himself in at the police station, but a motive is still being investigated. The five injured children, who were between the ages of three and five, were taken for medical treatment, with one child who was in serious condition, according to Blumenau’s mayor, Mário Hildebrandt.

In January, a teacher, who worked at the Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir school in India, was allegedly hacked to death with an axe. The teacher, identified as Nirakar Sethi, was attacked by one of the workers at the school, according to the police. The suspect, Naresh Kshatriya, is believed to have launched the assault after having a verbal dispute, police say.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles in 2021, a man was arrested in connection with the murder of a 103-year-old man who was found by the police inside his home with “numerous contusions and lacerations.” Police were previously called at around 11:40 a.m. to reports of an armed man, and they later found a 34-year-old man with a minor laceration to his arm. Over an hour later, officers were called to another report of a man armed with a hatchet.

Police later arrested 47-year-old Adam Dimmerman on suspicion of killing the elderly man and attacking the 34-year-old. Officers recovered an axe and a knife from the scene.