Man downs weedkiller following quarrel with grandchild

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TV FEUD: The grandfather arriving at the Sarawak General Hospital following the incident.

KUCHING: A man from Demak Laut was hospitalised Thursday night after he downed weedkiller following a quarrel with his three-year-old granddaughter over which television channel to watch.

The incident was said to have initially begun around 7pm when the 68-year-old man, who lives with his son at RPR Demak Laut, changed the channel to watch a sports news programme while his granddaughter was midway watching her favourite cartoon show.

According to sources, the little girl grabbed the TV remote from her grandfather and switched the channel back, only for him to do the same.

This led to the two of them shouting at each other with each wanting to watch the programme of their choice, forcing the man’s son to take his daughter out of the house and tooke her for a car ride in order to let the old man watch his show.

When they returned about an hour later, the old man, who was apparently still upset over the initial confrontation, flew into a fit of rage and threatened to consume a bottle of weedkiller.

His son, however, grabbed the bottle from him and locked it inside a cabinet, resulting in the man picking up an axe and threatening to harm his son.

Fearing his safety, the son fled the house and returned several minutes later after not hearing any sound coming from inside.

He soon saw that the cabinet where he had locked the weedkiller in had been hacked open with the axe, with the bottle of poison no longer there.

He then heard his father groaning in pain in the bathroom and, after finding him lying on the floor clutching the half-empty bottle, rushed him to the Sarawak General Hospital.

The elderly man is currently being treated at the hospital and is reported to be in stable condition.