Police have also arrested a farmer over a beheading video on Facebook falsely linked to the murder case.
A businessman was yesterday charged in Sarawak’s Sri Aman Magistrate’s Court, with the murder of his wife between late last month and early this month.
According to the charge sheet, Wong Zing Haw, 41, allegedly killed China national Yan Xi, 31, between Feb 25 and March 3.
The charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code carries a death sentence upon conviction.
It was reported that no plea was recorded from the accused who was unrepresented, and the court set April 23 for mention.
On March 3, the police came upon Yan’s severed head at the banks of Sungai Batang Lupar, Jalan Skait in Sri Aman.
Reportedly, the investigation team has not found the remaining body parts of the victim.
Meanwhile, police have detained a Facebook user suspected of circulating a video clip showing a woman being stabbed and beheaded by a masked man.
According to Sarawak CID chief SAC Dev Kumar MM Shunmugam, police arrested the suspect, a 21-year-old farmer, at his house in Rumah Jerugo, Kampung Sagu, Sebuyau, at 1.05 pm yesterday.
“A mobile phone that we believe was used by the suspect to post the fake news was also seized,” he said.
Dev Kumar said the case was being investigated under Section 500 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.
A police report had been lodged on the circulation of the video footage.
Dev Kumar said some Facebook users had falsely linked the video to the Sri Aman murder case where the head of a woman was found at a riverbank in Skait, Sri Aman.
“However, checks by the police have confirmed that the video originated from a country in South America and is in no way related to the case in Sri Aman,” he said.
Dev Kumar warned social media users to stop spreading false news that could hamper the investigation of the Sri Aman murder and subsequent prosecution.