Cleaner discovers woman’s torso stuffed in suitcase in Penang

Gruesome task: Penang Hospital forensic personnel closing the luggage bag with the body part inside to bring it to the hospital for a post-morterm.

GEORGE TOWN: Just three days after the headless body of a woman was found floating off the sea here, another woman was found brutally murdered.

The body, believed to be that of a foreigner, was found without a head and legs.

The torso and the arms were found stuffed into a luggage bag in Jalan Kebun Bunga here.

Penang police chief Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said the torso was wrapped in a blanket.

“This is the most gruesome case we have come across this year. We believe the crime took place at a different location and the body was dumped here. She could have been dead for between 24 and 36 hours.”

On Tuesday, the body of a headless woman was found floating in the sea, off Pulau Kendi, but SDCP Abdul Rahim said there was no connection between that case and the one found near Moongate in Jalan Kebun Bunga.

A cleaner, who was sweeping the car park, came across the suitcase under a tree at about 8am and informed his colleagues and supervisor.

One of his colleagues, Fauzi Desa, 49, said they used a wooden stick to poke around the suitcase, which was partially unzipped.

“There was a strong stench. After a few pokes, we saw a hand with fair skin,” he said.

Penang Hospital’s senior consultant forensic pathologist Datuk Dr Bhupinder Singh described the victim as a young and obese adult.

“She died of ligature strangulation as there were marks on her neck,” he said after performing a post-mortem on the victim.

He said her head and lower body were severed after she died.

Universiti Sains Malaysia criminologist Assoc Prof Dr P. Sundramoorthy said they could not rule out any possibility, even that of a serial killer on the loose in the state.

“Whether it’s ritualistic, serial, non-serial or crime of passion, we cannot rule out anything,” he said.

There have been a series of killings in Penang, with numerous bodies being found wrapped in blankets.

The headless body found by fishermen on Tuesday has been identified as that of Halimahtusakdiah, 33, from north Sumatra.