MADRID, Oct 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Jury selection began Tuesday in Spain in the trial of a Pakistani man charged with murdering three siblings in their 70s over debts reportedly linked to an online romance scam.

Dilawar Hussain admitted to killing two sisters and their disabled brother in Morata de Tajuna, near Madrid, in December 2023.

Hussain has been held in custody since he turned himself in to the authorities the following month.

Quoting local residents, Spanish media said the tragedy was likely linked to a fake online love affair, with the two sisters embarking on what they thought was a long-distance relationship with two apparent US servicemen.

They were led to believe one of the servicemen had died and that the other needed money for costs so that he could send them a share of a multi-million-euro inheritance -- causing the sisters to rack up huge debts.

Hussain, who rented a room in the siblings' house, reportedly lent the sisters at least 50,000 euros ($58,000), which they had never repaid, prompting him to attack one of the sisters with a hammer in February 2023.

He received a two-year jail sentence for this attack but it was suspended since it was his first offence, as is customary under Spanish law.

Police found the bodies of the three siblings partially burnt inside their home in January 2024.

Neighbours had raised the alarm after not seeing them for some time.

Hussain is scheduled to take the stand on Wednesday, with the trial at a Madrid court expected to last until October 31.

Hussain faces a separate trial for allegedly murdering his 39-year-old Bulgarian cellmate in February 2024 while in a Madrid prison awaiting trial for the murder of the siblings.