Seven-day remand for farmer accused of decapitating elderly villager
SARATOK: Police have obtained a seven- day remand against a farmer who allegedly decapitated an elderly woman and later burned her severed head at a longhouse in Roban.
District police chief DSP Mordani Tanin said the 57-yearold suspect was produced in a magistrate’s court here yesterday and will be remanded until Aug 1 for further investigation.
The suspect was arrested on Wednesday afternoon at Rumah Lumpoh in Bratang Baru after he decapitated a 75-year- old woman in her unit.
The victim, Gelingi Ngaing, was in the living room of her unit with her daughter-in-law when the suspect entered around 2.30pm and slashed her at the neck with a machete.
“The daughter-in-law fled out the back door in fear while the suspect was apprehended shortly after not far from the longhouse.
“We also recovered two machetes, an axe and a grinding stone from the scene,” he said.
Mordani said the suspect allegedly carried off the victim’s severed head and set it on fire along with a motorcycle belonging to the victim’s son, at the junction leading to the longhouse.
“The victim’s skull was found next to the burnt motorcycle,” he added.
Based on initial investigation, police believe the suspect suffers from mental illness as he claimed to have heard a voice ordering him to kill Gelingi.
Longhouse residents, meanwhile, said the suspect was responsible for his wife’s death a few years ago, but was released after serving his custodial sentence and undergoing treatment at a mental institution.