A young man killed his five family members after he poured gasoline around the house and set it ablaze while they were sleeping.
The Libyan Ministry of Interior revealed in a statement on Monday, the circumstances of the murders in the city of Gharyan, west of the country. It said that the investigations pointed to the eldest son of the family, and one of the survivors of the fire, as the main suspect.
The perpetrator confessed to having deliberately killed his parents, brother, and sisters at their home. He said that the reason was the “mistreatment of his family members by putting pressure on him.”
According to the statement, all legal measures were taken, and the criminal was referred to the Public Prosecution.
Crime rates have increased in Libya recently, especially the killing of relatives.
Violence and insecurity in Libya drain more than $1.54 billion annually, reaching 19% of the gross domestic product. The Libyan per capita losses from the annual GDP were estimated, for the same reason, at more than $3,890 a year.
A report by the Institute for Economics and Peace indicated that Libya witnessed sharp increases in the economic cost of violence, recording increases of more than 85% from 2020-2021. It ranked 151st globally out of 163 countries on the list, and 16th in the Arab world, ahead of Sudan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
The report considered access to small arms, and the continuation of violent crimes and political terrorism for the fourth year in a row as a dilemma in the country. It recorded a decrease in the percentage of deaths resulting from the internal conflict index by 21%.
The index relied on three basic criteria for measuring peace in Libya. Each of which has a number of indicators, namely the continuation of internal and external conflicts, societal security and safety, and the level of state militarization.
Over the years, kidnappings, arrests, and assassinations have increased substantially in western Libya. This is evident in the repeated statements of the Ministry of Interior, about the arrest of gangs and individuals involved in the kidnapping and extortion of expatriate workers.