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Thursday June 11, 2009

Man slashes neighbour, then drinks poison


ALOR SETAR: A 46-year-old man killed himself by drinking poison after slashing his elderly neighbour in Taman Dahlia 1 here.

The farmer had quarrelled with his Thai wife who left their house, taking their two-year-old son yesterday afternoon. She had also taken his five-year-old grandson from his grown-up son from a previous marriage.

Kota Setar CID chief Deputy Supt Fiesal Libertus Abdullah, who was at the scene, said the man ran amok and went to his neighbour’s house where he slashed a 62-year-old man with a parang.

“He then set his Proton Wira alight with some petrol which he was carrying. He went back to his house, locked himself in and tried to set the premises on fire but failed.

“We believe that he subsequently drank some poison lying around the house. By the time a police team reached the scene, he was already dead,” he told reporters.

According to neighbours, the man had a history of running amok, which happened each time he quarrelled with his wife.

The case is being investigated as voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means under Section 326 of the Penal Code.

The elderly man was admitted to the Alor Setar Hospital where his condition is stable.

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