It may sound like the plot of a thriller movie, except that this was a real-life drama in 1993 involving the disappearance of Pahang state assemblyman Datuk Mazlan Idris.
The 49-year-old was last seen on July 2 after meeting bomoh couple Mona Fandey and Mohd Affandi Abdul Rahman in Raub.
“At the time, there was speculation that Mazlan was no longer in the country,” recalled Devid Rajah, who covered the story as a crime reporter in The Star back then.
On July 22, The Star reported that three individuals had been detained in connection with the case.
Around noon that day, Devid received a call from a source with an update on Mazlan.
The source, a policeman, happened to be a friend from his hometown in Seremban.
“The suspects arrested told him the assemblyman had been killed. He gave me the address of a house in Ulu Dong, Raub, and asked me to go there. My editor told us to get going,” he said.
Some two hours later, Devid arrived at a kampung area with his colleague Nizam Isa, and they sought directions to a “rumah bomoh”.
Soon, they found a big house and to Devid’s surprise, the police were not there yet. He made his way into the compound and saw a man with a machete seated outside chopping vegetables.
Devid and Nizam waited outside and continued observing the house. Hours later, police arrived and began cordoning off the area.
“They started bringing in tools like drills and hammers to a spot on the cement floor. I realised that it was exactly where Nizam and I had been standing when we spoke to that man,” he said, adding that the police broke through the cement floor while a forensics team stood by.
Devid said he had been tipped off by his source on what was beneath the cement floor.
Well before police finished digging, he said he could already smell the overwhelming stench of rotting flesh.
Past 4am, there was still no confirmation from the police on what was found.
Finally, there was a major breakthrough – Devid saw forensic expert Dr Abdul Rahman Yusof examining a decapitated head under a bright spotlight.
At about 6am, police confirmed that the remains found in a hole were those of Mazlan.
Devid got on the phone with The Star headquarters and dictated the story while someone typed it out.
One of the managing editors then decided to run it even as the presses had already started for the July 23 edition.
The story made the front page under the headline “Mazlan Slain”, with an initial print run of just 5,000 copies.
The house, which actually belonged to Mazlan, had been occupied by Mona and her husband for about four months.
Police seized items like amulets and posters with Thai writings believed to have been used by the suspects in a ritual linked to black magic.
“We were done and made our way back to Kuala Lumpur. Nizam and I took turns sleeping during the drive back,” said Devid, adding that The Star was first on the scene thanks to his source.
Days later, Devid got a call from a high-ranking officer in the Criminal Investigation Department at Bukit Aman who revealed that police were going to Mona’s house in Raub.
“He asked if I wanted to come along and I said yes,” he said.
Police confirmed that Mona, her husband and their assistant, Juraimi Husin, had been arrested in connection with Mazlan’s disappearance.
“I saw bottles of ointment believed to be minyak dagu in the house. It was said to be procured from the chin of the dead.
“I also saw a raised platform in the living area which I thought could be a place used for chopping up bodies,” he said.
Devid spent about 90 minutes in the house.
“There was an eerie feeling after seeing the bottles. I gathered that they were very evil people,” he said.
Mona, Mohd Affandi and Juraimi were later charged with Mazlan’s murder, which police estimated to have occurred between July 2 and July 8.
A sensational trial followed (‘Face to face with Mona Fandey’, https://tinyurl.com/2s3rakk5) in 1994, where Mona claimed that a big axe fell on Mazlan’s throat during a mandi bunga (flower bath) ritual.
She said the axe was in Juraimi’s hand at the time, adding that he appeared to have gone insane.
Affandi also said they sold items such as a cane and talisman, which he claimed to possess magical properties, to Mazlan for RM2.5mil.
The court found the trio guilty of Mazlan’s murder and sentenced them to death in 1995. They were later hanged in 2001.
The case remains one of Malaysia’s most notorious true crime stories, continuing to draw public fascination. It even inspired the release of the controversial film Dukun in 2018.
Till this day, any mention of Mona’s role in the gruesome murder often sparks debate on social media.
“People believe there is still a lot of mystery behind what happened,” Devid said.
Police revealed that the motive behind the murder was greed, with the couple seeking to gain control of Mazlan’s assets such as land plots.
