Syed Muzammil, the 19-year-old aspiring photographer arrested for killing model Mansi Dixit, suffers from a mental ailment and has anger issues, according to his family.

A fortnight before the murder, he had kicked his mother in the face for taking away his phone. “He was hooked to his phone and I reprimanded him. I said I would take away the phone and within seconds he kicked me in the face,” said his mother, requesting not to be named.

Muzammil’s father, too, had seen him smash phones, slam doors, burn the phone on a stove and kick a laptop until it broke. He admitted to being hit by Muzammil on several occasions.

His family claimed his psychological assessment report in 2012, stated he had a history of seizures from 6 to 10 years of age. The report termed him aggressive, who bullied, threatened or intimidated others and often initiated physical fights. He deliberately destroyed others’ property, the report stated, concluding there were concerns in areas of aggression and peer relations. “He has mental issues. He has undergone counselling twice – in 2009 and 2012. His condition worsened in 2014, when we returned from my mother’s funeral,” the father said.

The family claimed Muzammil was bedridden for a month and would lose consciousness.

Muzammil was glued to social media and not good at studies. He did not attend college regularly.

A few years ago, the accused got interested in photography, after which he started to contact models on a popular photo-sharing social network for photo shoots.

First Published: Jan 25, 2019 09:32 IST