Wednesday July 4, 2012

Shaman takes credit for killing man-eating croc

Compiled by BEH YUEN HUI, JOSEPH KAOS JR and A. RAMAN

A VILLAGE shaman and renowned crocodile hunter has claimed responsibility over the death of Bujang Sebelak, a 3.65m-long crocodile believed to be responsible for the death of three villagers at Sebelak river in Saratok, Sarawak.

Shaman Indet Sanabong, 42, told Kosmo! he managed to kill the crocodile by reading a chant he learnt 33 years ago and slapping the crocodile in the head.

Bujang Sebelak is said to have killed three villagers who lived at the Nanga Sungai Anak longhouse since 2010, including the headman's wife.

Indet, his 45-year-old brother Tinggi and two assistants, went upriver and found the reptile caught in a trap they had set earlier.

The “battle” with the reptile lasted an hour before Indet landed his final blow.

“It would have been dangerous if we had brought the crocodile back alive as it could fight back,” said Indet.

The men brought the reptile's body back to the longhouse, and presented it to headman Embol Asum for “identification”.

“May my wife's soul rest in peace,” said Embol.

Yusri Indoi, 12, whose grandfat-her Sulaiman Abdullah was also believed to have been killed by Bujang Sebelak last year, could not contain his anger upon seeing the dead reptile.

“You killed my granddad!” screamed the devastated boy.

Saratok acting OCPD Asst Supt Zamrul Ahmad Tahir said the body of the crocodile was sent to the Sarawak Forestry Department.

> In KUANTAN, a worker's noble deed of helping his employer move into his new home ended in tragedy when he was crushed by the refrigerator he was carrying.

Harian Metro, quoting state public order and traffic department chief Supt Mohamed Fauzi Abdul Rahim, said the victim, Syamsul Huda, 39, from Indonesia, was sitting on the bed of his employer's pick-up truck and holding on to the refrigerator as they were on the way to the new house.

As they passed a narrow bridge on Jalan Haji Ahmad, the employer drove past an iron pole, which knocked down the refrigerator and it landed on Syamsul.

The impact caused severe injuries to Syamsul's head, who died on the way to the hospital.

Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.

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