TANGKAK: The man who slashed his wife to death in Bukit Gambir last Monday has been remanded for seven days from today to facilitate further investigations.
The remand order was issued by Magistrate Lee Kim Kiat for the investigations to be carried out under Section 320 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing grievous hurt and Section 435 of the same Code for mischief by fire.
According to Tangkak Police District chief Supt Roslan Mohd Talib, the man was initially apprehended for allegedly torching a car and a motorcycle at his mother-in-law’s house.
He said that during interrogation, the suspect appeared confused and told them that his wife was missing.
“A team of policemen went to his house to investigate. That was when they found his wife, lifeless on the floor of the living room, covered with a blanket and a knife not far from the body,” he told Bernama when contacted.
Roslan said the police believed that family conflict was the motive behind the two incidents.
Initial investigation also revealed that the 33-year-old suspect had a previous record related to a crime of mischief, he added.
Meanwhile, the suspect’s mother-in-law, when met at her house in Durian Chondong, Muar, said the last time she saw her daughter was just from afar, three days ago, when she went to pick up a bag of rice that the couple bought for her from Thailand.
“He (the suspect) has not spoken to me for quite some time and does not allow my daughter to see her parents, her siblings or any of our relatives. He always tells us to stay away,” the 63-year-old mother said.
The woman said she always had the feeling that something bad was going to happen to her daughter, and true enough, the suspect came to her house late on the night of the incident, trying to set fire to her house.
“Late that night, he came to our place, torched our car and motorcycle. If we were awakened just a minute late, my family, my grandchildren and I would have perished in that fire,” she said, adding that her daughter, 34, married the man three years ago.
Although it is hard to cope with the loss of her daughter, the woman said she still wants justice to be served.
Meanwhile, the victim’s remains were laid to rest at the Kampung Pengkalan Kota Muslim Cemetery, Durian Chondong, Tangkak, after Maghrib prayers.
The post-mortem was completed at about 4.30 pm at Melaka Hospital before the funeral prayer was performed at the victim’s family home here.
More than 200 people, including family members, relatives, and close friends attended the the funeral.
Roslan said that the post-mortem revealed the cause of death to be a slash wound to the neck.
