A man is believed to have stabbed his wife to death before taking his own life by jumping from the 12th floor of their condominium unit at GL Garden in Paya Terubong, Penang, early today, three days after celebrating Chinese New Year.
Initial investigations revealed the couple could have had a misunderstanding which escalated into a fight before the 54-year-old man stabbed his 46-year-old wife at least twice, one in the neck and the other in the thigh.
He then jumped to his death.
Acting Northeast police chief Superintendent V Saravanan said police received a call about someone jumping off the condominium building at 7.38am today.
He said the Air Itam police station chief went to the scene and found the remains of the 54-year-old man below.
The remains were then sent to the Penang Hospital for a post-mortem.
He said about noon today, an elderly woman had gone to the Air Itam police station to lodge a report, alleging that her 46-year-old daughter’s condo unit was locked from the inside and she could not open it.
He added that with the help of police, they went back to the unit where the elderly woman had used a duplicate key to open the door.
“As soon as the door was opened, we found a woman lying on the mattress in one of the rooms. Checks on the woman found stab wounds in two places.
“Further checks by the forensics team confirmed that the woman had died and there were stab wounds to the neck and thigh. A post-mortem examination will be conducted to ascertain other injuries, if any.
“Upon further checks, it was found that the deceased woman and the man who had jumped to his death were husband and wife.
“We believe that the couple could have had a misunderstanding which escalated into a fight before the man stabbed his wife. He then jumped to his death,” he told newsmen at the scene.
Both the deceased had worked in factories in Bayan Lepas.
Saravanan said no criminal element was found and there was no sign of forced entry as the door was locked from the inside.
He also said investigators found the knife believed to have been used to stab the woman to death.
“At the time of the incident, there was only the deceased woman inside the house.
“The couple has an 18-year-old child, whom we believe was with the grandmother when the incident occurred.
“We consider this case settled but investigations are still ongoing,” he added. – NST