JOHOR BARU: A 51-year-old single mother and her 59-year-old male friend were found dead with hacking and slash marks at an apartment unit here today.
The bodies were found in a third floor unit of Blok 11, Flat Taman Ungku Tun Aminah here at 9am.
Deputy Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said the incident was believed to have occurred about midnight.
He said initial investigation revealed that neighbours had heard loud noises from the unit for about 10 minutes but did not suspect anything was amiss as the door to the unit was shut.
According to Kamarudin, the female victim, K. Kamala. who worked as a cleaner, lived in the unit with her 31-year-old daughter and the male victim, S. Silvaraju.
The victims were found by Kamala’s daughter when she returned from work in Singapore at 9am.
“The body of Kamala was found in the bedroom while the body of Silvaraju was found in the living room. Both victims were covered in blood.
“Initial investigation showed that both victims were hacked on the head while there were also slash wounds on the male victim’s neck. We believed a sharp weapon like a machete was used in the murders,” said Kamarudin.
He said the police will investigate the case from all angles to determine the motive for the murders, whether it was connected to robbery, revenge or debt.
He added that a sum of money and jewellery belonging to Kamala was also reported missing.
Kamarudin said police believed two or more suspects were involved in the case.
“No arrest has been made and we are trying to see if there were any CCTV cameras in the area that could help in the investigation.
“We suspect the victims knew the suspects as the grill of the unit was not locked. Only the wooden door of the unit was locked. We also found turmeric powder scattered at the scene which we believed was a measure to prevent the suspects from being tracked,” said Kamarudin when met at the scene.
He said the case was being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. Both bodies were sent to the Forensic Department of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital for post mortem.