Uncle slits nephew’s throat while family prepares to break fast

KOTA KINABALU: A family breaking fast at a restaurant turned deadly when an uncle slit the throat of his four-year-old nephew for no apparent reason.

It is believed that the 23-year-old unemployed suspect had called his nephew to him when he saw the boy playing alone in the restaurant.

The man then brought the boy behind the eatery near Telupid some 195km from the state capital and slit the latter’s throat in the 6.10pm incident on Monday.

The boy managed to scream in pain, which alerted his mother and was immediately taken to the hospital by his family who were at the front area of the restaurant preparing to break their fast.

The victim was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

Beluran district police chief Deputy Supt Sivanathan V said the suspect was caught by people at the restaurant immediately after the incident as he did not run away after slitting the boy’s throat.

“We will be sending him for psychiatric examination,” he said on Tuesday adding that the victim’s body has been sent to the Sandakan Duchess of Kent Hospital for a post mortem.

A machete believe used in slitting the boy’s throat was also recovered at the scene.