KOTA KINABALU: A three-year-old boy was found murdered in a bush with his hands bound in Sabah’s east coast Lahad Datu district on Saturday (March 11).
Police have detained a man in his 30s who is believed to be of unsound mind in connection with the boy’s death.
Lahad Datu acting OCPD Supt Azmir Abdul Razak said the mother, in her 20s, became worried when the boy failed to return home after going out to play with his friends at Kampung Panji earlier at noon.
“After frantically searching for him, she finally found her son’s lifeless body in a bush at 3pm,” he said, in a statement here on Sunday (March 12).
He said the boy’s head was found stuck between two trees.
“The hands were tied using a string while there were also injury marks on his head believed to have been caused by a sharp object.
“Besides that, there were also hack marks on both his hands and left leg,” said Supt Azmir.
The woman later asked help from villagers to call the police, he added.
Following information gathered from the public, he said, police later arrested the suspect for further probe.
“The man was the last person to have been seen with the victim. The suspect was also found positive for drugs besides being suspected of being mentally unstable,” he said.
Supt Azmir said police also picked up the mother and her husband, aged in his 30s, to help in the investigations.
The family is of Palauh ethnicity, he added.
Towards this end, he advised the public not to panic as well as not to spread rumours pertaining to the case, adding that people should refer to the police to obtain the correct information.
