Murder- suicide case of abandoned wife and her sons spurs ministry to mull setting up special body to address plight of single mothers
Doctors inspecting the body of seven-year-old Adam Hadiman after it was brought by police to the Sarawak General Hospital late Tuesday night.
Family members and relatives gathering in front of the house yesterday morning where the tragedy occured.
KOTA SAMARAHAN: The case of a mother, whose husband had abandoned the family about seven months ago, killing her two young sons before hanging herself here on Tuesday evening has set off alarm bells over the welfare of abandoned wives and single mothers.
Police have identified the three deceased as Rozana Mohamad, 37, and her sons Adam Hadiman Noorahman, seven, and Mohd Ikmal Danish Noorahman, four.
According to police investigation, Rozana and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce.
Responding to the murder-suicide, Minister of Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said she had spoken to State CID chief SAC Dev Kumar over the incident which she described as ‘an alarm bell being triggered’.
“It is very sad to see this kind of case, or any suicide for that matter, happening as it means that she had lost hope.
“We have to see where there is a need for us at the ministry, government departments, agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to set up a body or service to handle cases such as this,” she said.
Fatimah went on to reveal that her ministry will soon be inking a strategic partnership agreement with the Royal Malaysia Police to delve into issues related to women and family such as violence, abuse, theft, rape, drugs and suicide.
“Specifically on suicides, we will be looking at the statistics, motives and trend so as to come up with the appropriate intervention. We will also rope in psychologists to provide the necessary input.
“At the moment, we have SWWS (Sarawak Women for Women Society), which is an NGO that offers a form of helpline for women in distress,” she said.
SWWS is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of women’s equality and elimination of violence against women and children.
Earlier Samarahan district police chief DSP Lee Chong Chern told the press the incident came to light around 7.55pm on Tuesday when police received word of the incident at an unnumbered house at Kampung Baru.
“Police personnel initially found a door on the lower part of the house locked from the inside but were able to gain entry via an unlocked door on the upper floor.
“We found two boys, aged four and seven, motionless in bed with their mouths black in colour with an open bottle of bleach next to them.
“The elder child was already dead, while the younger boy was barely alive. He was rushed to the Sarawak General Hospital Heart Centre here but succumbed shortly after,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Further checks in the house uncovered Rozana’s body, which was found hanging from a rope in the toilet at the back of the house.
According to Lee, initial investigation found no signs of foul play at the scene, leading police to believe that Rozana had poisoned her children before taking her own life.
“We are investigating the case as murder-cum-suicide, and have classified it under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
He added based on early information gathered, Rozana had been staying at the house together with her adoptive parents, who were away at their farm at the time of the incident.
“Her husband hails from Saratok and had not been financially supporting the woman, who was unemployed, which may have strained her and led her to murder her two children before hanging herself,” said Lee.
However, Rozana’s adoptive brother, Johari Bujang, 38, painted a different picture of her saying she was a devoted mother and loving person who had no physical or mental health issues.
“She was always happy and never complained about having any problems. She loved her boys so much and was very protective of them, to the point where she would get upset if other family members scolded them,” he said when met at the family’s house yesterday.
Johari disclosed that although Rozana was separated from her husband and had not been receiving any financial support from him over the past few months, she was not penniless as she earned money by sewing clothes for others.
“We went through her belongings and found several hundred ringgit inside her wallet. We don’t believe that she did what she did because of financial constraints. In fact, the only thing we found strange was that both of her mobile phones were missing their SIM cards.”
His father, meanwhile, echoed Johari’s description of Rozana’s caring nature, saying she had not only sewed new Hari Raya clothes for herself and her sons, but for the entire family as well.
When asked about her marital problems, he revealed that Rozana and her husband had been living separately for the past one year but have not divorced.
“Rozana’s husband is a construction worker who moves from one place to another depending on where he is hired. They had separated twice before over his drug habit, but she accepted him back each time.
“It was only when they split for the third time last year that she decided not to have anything more to do with him and contemplated divorce.”
Rozana’s husband, meanwhile, was spotted at the Sarawak General Hospital mortuary in Kuching where the bodies of his wife and two children were kept.
He, however, declined to be interviewed.