KOTA KINABALU: A man paid with his life after helping his neighbour lodge a police report over a fight she had with her husband in Sabah’s interior Keningau district.
The 58-year-old victim is believed to have died of severe bleeding after being hacked in the arm by the neighbour’s husband in the incident at Jalan Lingkudau late Thursday (Sept 19).
Police are still searching for the suspect in his 40s who fled the scene after the incident.
Acting Keningau police chief Deputy Supt Alizam Dalaman said the woman earlier quarrelled with the husband, adding she then ran off to the victim’s house next door.
He said the victim and his wife had subsequently helped the woman lodge a report over the domestic disturbance at the district police headquarters.
When they were at the station, he said, the victim received a call from his son, aged 25, who said the suspect had arrived at their doorstep infuriated.
The victim then decided to return home with his seven-year-old son who he had brought with him earlier, he said, adding the suspect’s wife also returned home to try to calm the husband.
DSP Alizam said during the drive back home, the victim encountered the suspect on the road. An altercation ensued with the victim still seated in the vehicle with his child.
“The suspect was said to have hacked the victim, causing massive bleeding on his arm, right in front of the young child who was seated in the front seat,” he said when contacted on Friday (Sept 20).
He said the suspect’s wife arrived at the scene together with a police Mobile Patrol Vehicle (MPV) unit soon after and found the victim seriously hurt.
The MPV personnel, he said, then alerted the district hospital to help the victim who was later confirmed to have died at the location by medical personnel.
“The suspect, in his 40s, has since fled and efforts are underway to locate him,” said DSP Alizam.
He said police believed the attack because the suspect was upset and jealous of the victim for helping his wife.
The case was being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, he said, adding the body had been sent to the district hospital for a postmortem.
A meat cleaver, believed to have been used by the suspect, was also recovered at the scene.
