A 43-year-old man suspected of stabbing his wife 13 times first asked a neighbour to look after their three-year-old son before returning about 15 minutes later to collect the child.
The suspect is believed to have stabbed his 39-year-old wife, S Sila, who was later pronounced dead while receiving treatment at Kulim Hospital.
Neighbour S Kesavan, 63, said the suspect arrived at his house in Taman Tiram at about 6.30pm yesterday and asked him to watch the child.
“He came to my house and asked me to look after his child for a while.
“He said he wanted to take a shower, so I did not think or suspect anything. About 15 minutes later, he returned to collect his son and simply thanked me before leaving,” he said when met today.
Kesavan said he only learnt about the stabbing at around 8pm. He added that the suspect had previously visited his house while crying and admitted to hitting his wife, prompting him to advise the man not to repeat the act.
Another neighbour, S Suresh, 50, said residents were alerted at about 8.30pm when several family members sought their help to break down the door of the house.
He said they were shocked to find Sila lying in a pool of blood on the bed after the door was forced open.
“We took her to Kulim Hospital and upon arrival, the hospital staff told us that her heart had stopped, but they still tried to save her,” he said.
Suresh said he had heard the couple arguing several times before but never expected their disputes to end in tragedy.
The suspect later surrendered himself at the Lunas police station at about 8.40pm.
Police seized a 20cm folding knife believed to have been used in the incident.
The suspect has been remanded for seven days until Sept 21.
He is believed to have stabbed his wife seven times in the chest, five times in the abdomen and once on the right side of her body.
The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
