The suspect, identified as Zhou Yezhong, waged his killing spree in the village of Chengyuan in Jiangxi province on Saturday evening, the Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday, quoting local police and residents.

China has been left reeling from a series of assaults, many of them against children, in a country where violent criminal attacks remain relatively rare.

Xinhua said Zhou first killed his 10-year-old daughter and then his mother, aged in her eighties, even though she fell to her knees begging for mercy, the agency said, quoting witnesses.

The man, aged 36, rushed to another house where he killed his wife and two neighbours before stabbing two other villagers who were running away to seek help and a migrant worker, Xinhua said.

He was caught by police almost two hours after his murderous rampage began, and an investigation is under way. The motive of the killing was still unknown, said Zhou Weihui, head of the county public security bureau.

Cities around China have taken a number of measures following a series of attacks on children, with the public security ministry calling for stepped up security around schools and kindergartens nationwide.

The attacks underscore how China -- which has enjoyed lower violent crime rates than the West -- faces a growing public safety threat from disgruntled individuals amid rising mental illness rates and looser social controls.

Studies have cited a rise in mental disorders, some linked to stress as society in the world's most populous country becomes more fast-paced and old communist-era supports are scrapped.

In one of the most gruesome attacks, a former doctor stabbed to death eight school children and injured five others in the province of Fujian in March in a fit of rage after he broke up with his girlfriend.

The provincial high court described the attacks as "particularly evil" after a trial in which prosecutors played video clips showing the man -- who was later executed -- stabbing children with a dagger as they arrived at school.

Last month, a jobless man apparently angry over a series of personal and professional setbacks slashed 29 children and three adults at a kindergarten in the eastern city of Taixing.

In another attack last month, a farmer armed with a hammer injured five children and a teacher at a primary school in the eastern province of Shandong before setting himself on fire.

And a 33-year-old teacher placed on sick leave for mental problems injured 15 students and a teacher in a knife attack at a primary school in the southern province of Guangdong, also last month.

The new security measures introduced in China include increased police patrols near school grounds, and tighter monitoring of people known to be mentally ill.

A study last year estimated that 173 million adults in China have some type of mental disorder -- 91 percent of whom had never received professional help.

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News