GEORGE TOWN: A man killed a woman and her father before attempting to take his own life in what is believed to be a tragic case of unrequited love.
The man, 32, was rushed to the hospital after he was found with multiple stab and cut wounds on his body at the ground floor of an apartment in Bandar Baru Air Itam.
Apparently, the injuries were self-inflicted.
They were two other people who died at the scene. The deceased were identified as Siti Zulaila Zulkifli, 30, and her father Zulkifli Ibrahim, 62, who were found with multiple stab wounds at the scene at about 1.15pm Thursday (Nov 7).
Siti Zulaila works at a hardware store while her father was a driver.
It is learnt that the murder-suicide incident may have been triggered by the woman's rejection of the man's advances.
Police have not ruled out that the man could have been driven by anger and frustration before resorting to the act.
Penang police chief Comm Datuk Hamzah Ahmad said initial investigations revealed that the man, armed with a knife, had behaved suspiciously at the apartment block earlier.
"When police arrived at the scene, they found three people sprawled in a pool of blood.
"Two of them, a man and his daughter, were pronounced dead at the scene.
"The third person was found with cut and stab wounds. He was sent to the Penang Hospital for treatment," he said.
Comm Hamzah said the case was being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
"We have arrested the suspect and seized the murder weapon.
"The case is considered solved and we are now investigating the motive from various angles," he said.
He also urged those who had witnessed the incident to come forward and assist with the investigation.
"In the meantime, we urge everyone not to speculate about the case on social media as not to jeopardise our investigation," he said.
A postmortem is expected to be conducted on the victims Friday (Nov 8).
A family friend who declined to be named, said Siti Zulaila has a twin sister and a younger sister as well.
Another relative, who also did not want to be named, said Siti Zulaila is married with three children aged between 10 years and 18 months.
She said the family was shocked by the incident, adding that the suspect was not the deceased's boyfriend.
Siti Zulaila's mother and relatives who were seen waiting near the lift area declined to be interviewed.
Those suffering from mental health issues or contemplating suicide can reach out to the Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service (03-2935 9935 or 014-322 3392); Talian Kasih (15999 or 019-261 5999 on WhatsApp); Jakim’s Family, Social and Community care centre (011-1959 8214 on WhatsApp); and Befrienders Kuala Lumpur (03-7627 2929, go to www.befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia for a full list of numbers and operating hours, or email sam@befrienders.org.my).
