Double murder solved in hours
THE STAR
Shock and grief: Family members praying and overcome with grief during a gathering at Taman Puteri Wangsa in Johor Baru. — ABDUL RAHMAN EMBONG/The Star
JOHOR BARU: A 16-year-old girl, C. Durga Devi, and her 56-year-old mother could have been killed by a stalker.
Sources believe the suspect was in love with the student who was described by a friend as “shy and did not mix with boys”.
The killer could have been abetted by several others, police said.
State police chief Comm Datuk Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd said they solved the double murder within eight hours after some arrests and were tracking down suspects still at large.
Eight men were arrested and remanded over the case, he said yesterday.
He said two of them tried to flee the state on an express bus but they were caught on a highway near Pagoh hours after the victims’ bodies were discovered.
On Wednesday, Durga and M. Mariayee were found dead from multiple slash wounds at about 10.30am in a house at Taman Puteri Wangsa.
Mariayee’s three-year-old granddaughter, who was in the same room, was left unharmed.
The mood was sombre in the home yesterday, as relatives and friends came from Kluang and Simpang Renggam to pay their last respects to the mother and daughter.
Durga’s friend, S. Thiyagarasan, 17, described her as a shy person who did not mix with boys.
“She only mixed with me because I knew her from primary school,” he said.
“I am sad.
“I have lost my best friend who had always been there for me.”
Thiyagarasan said Durga was also a humble person and good in her studies.
He said she had not told him of any major problems she was having, except that she had argued with a man at school the day before she was murdered.
Her third brother C. Satis, 26, said the family was overcome with grief.
“I hope those who murdered my mother and sister are punished,” he told reporters.
He said the family knew about the incident at school but never thought that it would lead to this tragedy.
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