Police arrest man for killing paralysed brother, neighbour

Baling district police chief Supt Shariffudin Yusof said the incident happened at about 10am when the 32-year-old suspect went on a rampage by taking a coconut grater and hitting his younger brother, Muhammad Azuan Wahab, 25, on the head repeatedly.

The suspect had wanted to go out to buy cigarettes at about 10am, but his mother, 66, saw some disturbing signs in the behaviour of the suspect who is believed to have mental problems.

"The suspect's mother and a female neighbour, aged 54 (the second victim) followed the suspect and before reaching the store, the mother and the neighbour dragged the suspect back to the house. Before entering the house the suspect grabbed a stick and a coconut grater. He then hit his brother repeatedly," Shariffudin said in a statement.

The mother and the neighbour tried to stop the suspect from hitting his brother but was unsuccessful because the suspect was physically bigger than the victims.

"The neighbour than rushed out to seek help but was hit by a brick thrown by the suspect and fell outside the house. The suspect took the brick and hit the woman who had fallen under a banana tree," he said.

Shocked, the suspect's mother came out and used a piece of cloth to tie the suspect under a jackfruit tree until the police arrived to arrest him.

According to initial investigations, the suspect had been undergoing psychiatric treatment at the Baling Hospital twice before and once at the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital in Sungai Petani, besides having to undergo hospital treatment for about four years.

Among the items seized at the scene were a brick, a piece of wood, an iron bar and a coconut grater.