3 days ago
Tangkak murder victim's mum had 'bad feeling' a month before tragedy
TANGKAK: A month before her daughter's death, Fatimah Seman had a premonition that something terrible was going to happen.
That feeling became a horrifying reality when her daughter, in her 30s, was found dead in her home at Taman Cahaya near Sungai Mati in Bukit Gambir here earlier this week.
'As a mother, I just had this feeling that my daughter was going to die,' the 67-year-old said through tears when met at her home in Kampung Pengkalan Kota near Durian Chondong here on Wednesday (June 4).
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Fatimah recalled that her late daughter, the second of four siblings, had called her on Monday (June 2), asking to come to her workplace at an oil palm weighing station to collect rice she had bought from Thailand.
'She seemed fine when we met, and I did not expect anything to happen.
"But that night, I told my husband that we would be 'sent' something," she said, adding that her daughter had been married for about two years.
She claimed the suspect in her daughter's murder had grown increasingly distant and controlling, even cutting off her contact with the family.
Fatimah added that at around 4am on Tuesday (June 3), the suspect allegedly set fire to four vehicles parked outside her home.
'When police arrived at around 11am to investigate the fire, I told them that my daughter could not be contacted and I was afraid for her life,' she said.
Tangkak OCPD Supt Roslan Mohd Talib said initial investigations indicated that family issues may have led to the crime.
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'Investigations so far show that the motive for the attack was domestic problems.
"The case is still under investigation, and we are identifying witnesses to assist in the case,' he said when contacted.
He added that the investigation began on Tuesday after police received a report about several vehicles being allegedly set on fire by the suspect, which eventually led them to uncover the murder.
'Although we believe the murder occurred on Monday, the exact time is still being determined.
"The victim was found unconscious and her body, with slash wounds on the throat, was covered with a blanket in the living room.
'We also recovered and seized a blood-stained knife believed to have been used in the incident,' he said.
Supt Roslan said the 33-year-old suspect has a criminal record for an offence under Section 427 of the Penal Code for mischief.
He also said the unemployed suspect has been remanded for seven days until Tuesday (June 10) to assist in the investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder and Section 435 of the same law for causing mischief by fire.
He added that the victim's body has been sent to Hospital Melaka's forensic unit for a post-mortem.
Earlier on Wednesday, the suspect, wearing a purple prison uniform, was brought to a Tangkak Magistrate's Court for the remand process.
While in the court holding cell, he began reciting religious phrases and screaming so loudly that he could be heard outside the building.
Magistrate Lee Kim Keat issued the remand order following an application by the investigating officer from the Tangkak police district headquarters, which only took about 20 minutes before the suspect was taken back in a police truck for further investigation.
