Apparently, the killer flew into a rage for no known reason that night.
A 49-year-old man in Yan, Kedah, who killed his neighbour’s two children two nights ago had a history of drug arrests and fighting with other villagers.
The Star reported the mother of the two slain children, Norhashilawati Yusof, 37, saying her neighbour entered their house and first attacked her with a parang about 9.30pm last Tuesday after quarrelling with her husband earlier in the day.
“There were noises coming from outside. I was about to step out of my room to see what was happening when a man rushed in and tried to slash me with two parang. He missed.
“Then he went to the bed where my children were sleeping and started slashing them with the parang,” she was quoted saying.
The victims were Muhammad Hafis Idris, aged 14 months, who was slit in the throat while his four-year-old sister Nurul Hanim Idris was slashed all over her body.
The children’s fisherman father was away at the time of the incident while another son, aged seven, was sleeping with his grandmother in an adjacent room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvtfFfrF93U
Norhasilawati said her neighbour had fought with her husband in the past but added that she was unsure if that was the reason for his attack that day.
“Once he came to my house armed with a parang and quarrelled with my husband, who didn’t lodge a police report.
“I don’t know if there was any misunderstanding between him and my husband that led to him killing two of my children,” she was quoted saying.
Another resident Omar Bakar, 53, told The Star that the man was known to be quarrelsome and was also involved in a fist fight with another villager some 30 minutes before the Tuesday night assault.
“The villager sustained a jaw injury and lodged a police report.
“Last year, he (the suspect) was also involved in a quarrel with other villagers. He used a parang to chase them but no report was lodged,” Omar was quoted saying.
The man was reported to have been apprehended by other neighbours after the attack and handed over to the police. – MMO