YAN: Was there a tiff between the man who ran amok and killed two children in Kampung Tengah, Yan, near here, last night, and the victims’ father?
This is one of the motives police are looking into as investigators probe the cause of the incident.
Both the suspect and the victims’ family are from the same village and live nearby.
Kedah Criminal Investigation Department chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Mior Faridalthrash Wahid said police are looking into the possibility that there could have been a misunderstanding between the two prior to the incident.
“Maybe not yesterday (Tuesday) or the day before (the misunderstanding took place)... maybe even way before that.
“That is a possibility and we are looking into it.
“We will call the children’s father to have his statement taken later. Right now, the family is in deep grief,” he told the NSTP when contacted.
Mior said, for now, police believed the suspect could have suffered from mental issues.
He said the suspect would be sent to the hospital for further observation.
“He (the suspect) had just divorced his wife last year. He has been suffering from depression and is also short-tempered.
“We will check with hospitals if they have any psychiatric report of him,” he added.
In the 11pm incident, the suspect barged into the victims’ house by kicking the kitchen door.
Armed with a parang, he immediately attacked an occupant in the house, who received 10 stitches for the deep gash sustained on his left ear.
The suspect proceeded to one of the rooms inside the house, where four-year-old Nurul Hanim Idris and her younger brother Muhammad Hafis, one, had been sleeping with their mother.
Prior to that, the mother exited the room upon hearing loud noises.
He tried to swing his parang at their mother but she managed to avoid. She left the house to get help. It was then that the suspect was alleged to have attacked and killed the two children.
The victims’ older brother, Mohammad Hakim, seven, was spared from the attack as he was sleeping in another room.
The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, which carries the mandatory death sentence.
Police have since obtained a week-long remand against the suspect to assist in investigation.