MURDERER ‘WORSE THAN AN ANIMAL’
Mother of woman allegedly killed by boyfriend bemoans tragedy
“SHE couldn’t even bear the pain from a needle prick. I can’t imagine how she must have suffered when... (she was attacked with a vegetable knife),” said M. Letchumy, the mother of D. Tharani, who was allegedly murdered by her supposed boyfriend.
The mother, who was inconsolable, stayed by the side of Tharani’s coffin during the funeral yesterday, and kept uttering: “Why, why must you leave us so soon?”
Speaking to the New Straits Times before the final rites at her home in Bandar Baru Selayang here, Letchumy said Tharani was the youngest of three girls and the most pampered in the family.
“How could anyone do this to her? Whoever did this to my baby is worse than an animal,” she said before breaking down in tears.
Letchumy said Tharani looked disturbed recently. Three weeks ago, she told a cousin that she was having problems at her workplace.
“We just found out about it when the cousin told us yesterday (Tuesday). She said she did not press Tharani because she assumed it was work stress.”
Letchumy said Tharani avoided the topic of marriage every time they brought it up.
“You kept saying you would be the one to take care of us when we grew old, but now, we are the ones sending you off,” wailed the 59year-old as the hearse was leaving the house.
Letchumy and Tharani’s two elder sisters — D. Sivagamy and D. Gunavathy — were also inconsolable.
On Monday, Tharani was killed, allegedly by a man claiming to be her boyfriend at the parking lot of a hypermarket in Kota Damansara.
The suspect, who worked at the same place as the victim since November, had gone out for lunch with her and bought household items, including a vegetable knife.
While returning to her car, Tharani told him she intended to marry someone else.
The man grabbed the kitchen knife they had just bought and allegedly stabbed her in the neck.
He drove to the Damansara police station with the body in the car and turned himself in.
On Tuesday, Tharani’s uncle, who wanted to be known only as Manimaran, said his niece could have been trying to avoid the suspect by making up a story about marriage.
He was reported as saying that she was not interested in marriage.
The 37-year-old suspect was remanded for seven days by the Petaling Jaya magistrate’s court yesterday.
Police have obtained closedcircuit television recordings from the hypermarket.
Tharani’s remains were cremated at the Sentul Hindu Crematorium yesterday evening.