I have been observing, monitoring, studying, researching on crimes in Brunei for years now. A number of times, I would encounter accounts on crime cases that made me fall off my chair, especially ones that are bizarre and unheard of or those that happen in the country for the first time. Well, this case is one of them, that made my jaw dropped to the floor (still is). Despite nearly two weeks now after the headline came out, I still can’t get over how bizarre and outrageous it is. The wider public may be oblivious, but to me, there are so many things off about this, on so many levels.

Do a google search on “mengaku bersalah kerana bergaduh” you will just find articles about this particular case. Why? Because in my years of looking at crime in the country, I have never come across somebody being charged in court for fighting. Oh wait….maybe there have…..no, that was during my secondary school years when two boys were called to see the discipline teacher and got suspended for throwing punches at each other.

Well…yeah, fighting could be the cause of a criminal offence, such as [a] Section 159 – Affray (When 2 or more person by fighting in a public place disturb the public peace, they are said to “commit an affray”), punishable with imprisonment and with fine. [b] Section 503 – Criminal Intimidation, punishable with imprisonment, or with fine, or with both. [c] Section 506 – Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace, punishable with imprisonment and with fine. Fighting could also lead to murder – causing bodily injury leading to death. But, people don’t get in legal trouble for just fighting.

Ok, for the sake of argument, lets just say that there is a charge of fighting, and a defendant is pleading guilty of fighting – wouldn’t that mean that the person he was fighting with should also be charged with fighting and guilty of fighting too? Despite the word fighting appearing five times in a sentence, this is a valid rhetorical question. 

We don’t need to be a genius to know that the act of fighting involves exchanging physical or verbal blows, and in the era of internet and social media, would also include exchanging mean online comments. See there, the keyword is “exchanging”. In the case of this Lance Corporal Amzar, the crime that he committed did not involve any “exchanging” of anything – he came to the victim’s home uninvited, beat the crap out of the victim unprovoked, put the victim on a chokehold, flailing him around like a rag doll, rendering the victim unable to do any “exchanging” of anything. This is not hearsay, it was an act caught on CCTV recording. So, for those who have seen the CCTV recording (they know who they are), did Lance Corporal Amzar commit a “fighting” or an assault?? 

For someone who is well aware about the circumstances of this case, who have watched the CCTV recording and appalled by it, I was completely disgusted to find out when reading the news article that Lance Corporal Amzar “mengaku bersalah kerana bergaduh” – “pleaded guilty to fighting”.  Again, for those who have seen the CCTV recording (again, they know who they are), don’t you see how outrageous that sounds??

More on this here – Truth, No Just-Ease

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The victim is someone I know and I can confirm that what is mentioned in this article is far from accurate. Unlike other cases, I also noticed that there is no coverage of this case in English. It was an assault case, and to say that it was a “Pergaduhan” (translated to English as “Fighting”) is totally misleading. There is also lack of consistency in reporting. In coverage of other crimes involving uniformed personnel, the affiliations, Policeman or Military Personnel, were freely mentioned, like it was no one’s business. Then, why is this case treated differently? Why does this criminal get a better treatment in reporting by leaving out his ranking and affiliation? He is a Lance Corporal in the military. He assaulted a civilian, leaving the victim with a bloody face and a permanent damage to his nose and the jerk just got fined $3,000 which he could totally afford. And yeah, he still got to keep his job. Do we want to have this kind of people in our security agencies? Would the military just let him stay knowingly that what he did contradicts with the military’s core values of Courageous, Loyal, Piety and Professional?

Get the full truth and details here [No Just-Ease]

What does one do when he or she becomes a victim of a crime? Is there an SOP to be followed by the public on what to do? But, before doing any of that, how do you know that what had happened to you was a crime. What constitutes a crime? According to the dictionary, a crime is an illegal act, an act committed in violation of the law, an action that is legally prohibited. By way that the words legal and law appeared in the definition means that whether something is a crime or not would depend on the criminal laws of particular jurisdictions / countries. In Brunei, the acts that are considered as crimes could be found in the country’s penal codes (both common law and shariah law).

For us the layman, some actions we know by common sense are crime – theft, robbery, corruption, assault, murder. Except for being murdered (of course), depending on how the victim felt about the crime, the victim could either let it go or report the crime to the police. There are indeed victims who (voluntarily) don’t report crime, for example, if the perpetrator is a spouse (say domestic violence) or family member (say theft). Victims of sexual assault also may choose not to report due to trauma, shame or fear of stigma. Apart from this kind of situations, it is logical to assume that the first thing victims would do is to make a police report, either by calling 993 or going straight to the police station. I know I would. Why? Because I would want the criminal to be arrested and punished so that he or she won’t do it to me again and to other people, and also subsequently to deter other would-be criminals. I would also want the satisfaction of seeing the criminal being punished as retribution for the emotional distress that I’ve suffered because of the crime.

So, when my cousin, one night in 2019, with a bloody face went to the Sengkurong police station to make a police report after he was assaulted by his ex-wife’s boyfriend, an obvious crime that was caught on cctv, I was pretty sure that it was an open and shut case, that the attacker will be arrested and jailed. Now, over 2 years on, the attacker is still free, is still serving as a Lance Corporal in the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (a supposedly highly discipline organisation), is still active on social media rubbing it in about his care free life. So, what went wrong? Would justice be eventually served? Why is it so slow to get justice? Who is responsible for the emotional pain suffered by victims throughout this long wait for justice to happen?

Take the example of the two brothers, Warrant Officer 2 Mohammad Yusirwan bin Yussof and Mohammad Yadiy Yusranshah bin Yussof who beat the crap out of a teacher at Sayyidina Abu Bakar Secondary School back in 2017. The video went viral. The public was outraged for a moment then forgot about it as they moved on to other viral things. In January 2020, the public read in the local newspaper that the two brothers were handed jail sentences for the assault. Many voiced their satisfaction to the sentencing, that this should serve as a warning for other would-be thugs that they can’t just go around and beat people up without facing consequences. But, did anyone question why it took 3 years for them to be found guilty and punished for their action, all the while they were still free to continue their day jobs, one a military Warrant Officer and one a Bilal, two organisations that should boast respectable employees. Did the police and the prosecution team offer any explanation as to why it took that long? Do they take accountability for the emotional pain suffered by the teacher due to the slowness in getting justice? Do they even have a standard, a measure, a KPI, TPOR for the speed of their service? For crimes with no suspects where the perpetrators are not known, the slowness would be understandable, given the needed time to get leads and do investigative work. But, when the perpetrators are as clear as day, with witnesses, caught on video even, I really need some enlightenment on why it took 3 years before they got sentenced. Maybe there is a strong reason for it. What do I know.

In my attempt to diagnose the problem and get answers, I sat down with my cousin and asked him to give me a blow-by-blow account on what he had to endure from day one until today.

12 Feb 2019, 2250H, Sengkurong.

It was late, his children were sound asleep, and my cousin Z was about to turn in for the night. Then the silence of the night was broken by the sound of a car honk. Z peered through the window and saw his ex-wife’s car outside. In it were his ex-wife at the front passenger seat and her boyfriend, Lance Corporal Amzar bin Azamain at the driver’s seat. Z knew about this boyfriend of hers as she had been rubbing it in about this buff soldier boyfriend that she got. In private messages to Z, she ridiculed Z’s manliness compared to the “perfect” Lance Corporal Amzar and insinuated that this boyfriend is ready to beat Z up anytime. That night, she had decided she wanted to pick up the kids eventhough she knew well that it was late and the kids were already sleeping. Whatever for? Perhaps just to show that she could. Well, that’s fine. But the fact that she brought her boyfriend along, for me, indicated that there was a malicious intent to intimidate and trigger a confrontation.

Z texted the ex-wife saying that the kids were sleeping and that he would send them to her place early in the morning. But she was not having any of it and demanded for Z to send the kids out the door right then. Then a barrage of honks followed. Now, bear in mind that it was past 10pm when this happened, and Z’s place is part of a row of semi-detached houses along a cul-de-sac. Clearly, the duo in the car didn’t give a shit that their annoying honks would create public disturbance, waking up the neighbours, creating unnecessary scene. Z had no choice but to go out and attend to them in order to get them to stop honking.

Z knew and could sense that the reason why the two were there, in the middle of the night, was not about picking up the kids. From the sentiments in the ex-wife’s text messages and the phonecall harrassments by the boyfriend, Z knew that the askar was out for blood that night. Impress the girl by beating up her ex-husband. Typical. So, Z took precaution. He kept a distance, telling the ex-wife again that he will send the kids early in the morning and to pity the kids, as they were already sleeping soundly. These are 4 and 2-year-olds, for god’s sake! Well, instead to listening to her motherly instinct to let the children sleep in peace, she let the bulldog out.

The bulldog, who was already all amped up, stormed towards Z, and in a split second, yanked Z towards him and wrapped his hand around Z’s neck in a chokehold. Z fell to the ground. Not releasing the chokehold, Lance Corporal Amzar proceeded to punch Z in the face repeatedly, not twice, not thrice, but 6 to 7 times. The blood from the first punch didn’t deter him to continue the assault until Z face and shirt were soaked in blood. Bravo askar, although I don’t think they have the “how to attack a civilian module” in military training.

Now, help me understand why, in the end, he just got fined and ZERO jail term. 

12 Feb 2019, 2300+H, Sengkurong Police Station.

With the bloody face and the excruciating pain in his nose, which continued bleeding by the way, Z took his car’s key and drove straight to the Sengkurong police station to make a police report. Z told the attending policemen that he was attacked by Lance Corporal Amzar. Here was when Z got his first taste of reality as a victim of crime. Just because you know the identity of the perpetrator, it doesn’t mean that the police will immediately jump into their police car, hunt and arrest the person. No. They will just write down your report, said uh-huh….uh-huh….uh-huh then tara…toodle-oo. Well, yeah, the police needed to investigate, get evidence first before making any arrest. But, they could at least show some enthusiasm and assurance to comfort the victim.

Not only that Z didn’t get the feeling of assurance that he needed, then came in Lance Corporal Amzar. “That’s him!” Z said to the policemen. Apparently, he saw Z going to the police station and followed suit. At this point, Lance Corporal Amzar still didn’t know about the existence of the CCTV recording. There, he was trying to “sanitise” what had happened by saying that he and Z were fighting (throwing punches to each other). Almost implying that it was a “consensual” physical fight, no crime involved. He said that he was injured too showing the police the baby bruises on his elbow and his knuckles. The police took his statement and with a smirk on his face, he left.

12 and 13 Feb 2019, RIPAS.

So, that night the police brought Z to RIPAS for medical examination. 2 policemen accompanied him to the Accident and Emergency Unit, where an emergency physician inspected his injuries. The Doctor took an x-ray and asked Z to see a specialist at the OMF the following day. At the OMF, the specialist confirmed that Z had a fractured nose and permanent deviated septum injuries. Yes, Permanent y’all! There were also several cuts on his face with the ones on the nose and forehead needing stitches. 

13 Feb 2019, 1500H, Z’s House.

The following day, Z got a call from the police. They wanted to take some pictures of the crime scene as part of their evidence collection. On the same day, Z also passed to the police a copy of the CCTV recording of the attack.

 For Z, things looked promising. The police went about to gather all the evidence within 24 hours after the incident. They got the medical report, photos of the bloody crime scene and yeah, the CCTV recording. Then….that was it. Weeks passed by and Z was left wondering about the progress of the case, or whether there was any progress at all. He kept on telling himself to tunggu saja and that justice will be served. Orang jahat mesti kana tangkap, that’s what we were taught and made to believe growing up.  

In April 2019, two months after the attack, Z went to the Sengkurong Police Station to enquire about the progress where he was informed that they had already passed the case  to the AGC’s DPP Hjh Muizzah binti Haji Sabli.

Here is where Z learned another reality as a victim of crime. Other than helping the police in supplying the information and evidence during the police investigation and evidence collection stage, the victim’s involvement pretty much ended there. The police are not obligated to update the victim on the progress of the case, nor are they obligated to share with the victim the case Statement that they had passed to the Public Prosecutor. This is to say that the police may not agree or take the victim’s word for it if the victim said that it was trespassing, assault, or this or that crime that had happened. The victim is expected to just move on with his/her life and the police will take it from there, because they know better.   

Now, for the purpose of analysis, lets say that there was no CCTV recording of the incident. It will be Z’s words (being assaulted) against Lance Corporal Amzar’s words (consensual fighting). Z has no witness on his side to corroborate his claim of being attacked. Meanwhile, Lance Corporal Amzar has his girlfriend (Z’s ex-wife) who was there during the incident who would of course “confirm” that it was just a pergaduhan as claimed by Lance Corporal Amzar. So, without the CCTV recording, there is a possibility that the police would believe Lance Corporal Amzar’s version of the event that it was a “Pergaduhan”.

With the presence of the CCTV recording, there is no way for the police or even anyone to believe that it was just a pergaduhan. Lance Corporal Amzar got out of the car, entered through the gate (trespassing!), put Z on a chokehold, punched Z’s face many times, all the time Z didn’t even raise his hands. In fact, watching the CCTV recording, Z was punched and dragged like a ragdoll.

Now, again, please please help me understand how a clear case of VOLUNTARILY CAUSING HURT, supported by evidence, magically changed to PERGADUHAN when this case went in front of a judge.

So, what will happen after a case is already passed by the police to the DPP? The case will go to court if the DPP decides that there is enough evidence to prosecute. Note that the victim doesn’t get to decide who the allocated DPP would be. Also, note that these are public prosecutors, not defence attorneys, so they only communicate with the police and the allocated DPP is not obligated to update the victim on the development or to discuss or share with the victim about his or her “game plan” on how to proceed with the case. In other words, the decision whether to prosecute and on what charge is at the discretion of the DPP, because they know better. This became another reality that Z learned as a victim of crime.

It is easy for anybody to say or ask the victim to be patience and not to pester the police and the DPP asking for progress of the case, but only when one becomes a victim of crime would one understand the anxiety and frustrations involved wondering if and when the criminal will be brought to justice and punished accordingly.

Bear in mind that the attack took place just over a month after a military personnel physically abused to DEATH the 2-year-old son of his girlfriend in Lumut. This added to Z’s anxiety, losing sleep worried sick about his children each passing day. Lance Corporal Amzar would hang out at Z’s ex-wife house, around the kids. Once, Z’s 4-year-old son told him “kawan umi jahat”. Z informed the police about this worry, but other than that there was nothing more that Z could do to prevent his children from being the prospective subject to Lance Corporal Amzar’s violence. He just had to let the justice system runs its course (how long – unknown) and for the justice system to eventually take Lance Corporal Amzar “off the streets” (or so he thought).

Another month would pass by, and when asked, the police kept on telling Z that they have no update for him since the case was already off their hands. Each day, Z was wondering more and more whether this is normal. Whether it is normal for a violent person, who attacked someone, and got reported to the police, and the police saw the person’s violent “work” with their own naked eyes, to get to go home and continue on with his daily activities like nothing ever happened, and yeah allowed to be around the unsuspected public, free to do violence on other people.

In May 2019, three months after the attack, Z tried to contact the person who knew exactly the update to the case. Oooh Boy, Z said, the person was really elusive. In the end, Z managed to see the person. But what transpired from the short conversation with that person left Z more restless and frustrated. Right off the bat, the person asked Z three distasteful questions. By the time the person asked Z the third question, Z began to realise that the three questions were implying that Z is a nuisance for claiming that he was assaulted, that it was really a mere “pergaduhan” as claimed by Lance Corporal Amzar, and (the worst of all) that the ex-wife had full custody of the kids and Lance Corporal Amzar’s attack on Z that night was justified because Z refused to “give” the kids to them. Poor Z had to explain again the true thing that happened like he was the guilty one instead. Z mentioned that the CCTV recording would verify what he said. While seeming aware of the presence of the CCTV, the person didn’t seem to acknowledge it to play a part in their evaluation of the case. To add insult to injury, the person then told Z that “given the circumstance” and given that he is a first offender, Lance Corporal Amzar would just be fined. Z was shocked to hear this, and insisted that it was an assault punishable by jail. The person said that if Z insisted so then “be ready” for this case to take longer to conclude. Wawwww, speechless….    

By the way, is there really such a thing as being spared a jail term for causing hurt if the attacker is a first offender??

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Who named their child Sinting knowingly that the word means “insane”? Well, apparently someone did and when she grew up she did not disappoint.

From day one, Sinting had it tough. Her parents divorced shortly after she was born. Neither one of her parents wanted to take her. She was sent to live with her grandparents. Her parents just went on with their lives, leaving the grandparents, who were just mere farmers, to support Sinting with the very little financial resource that they had. The life of hardship soon had taken a toll on Sinting’s education. She went to school up to Darjah 4 before dropping out.

Apart from growing up poor, Sinting also was suffering from strange episodes that nobody could explain. When she was 8 years old, while playing with her cousin, she just blacked out and remained unconscious for two days, yep 48 hours!. This was in the 1960s, and the village where Sinting was staying is deep in the remote areas of the Tutong district. Quickly bringing her to see a doctor at the hospital was not even an available option. When she came to two days later she seemed completely fine, so her grandparents didn’t think too much about the possible explanation for the strange episode.

The sense of relief was short-lived when not long after that Sinting was found missing. Her grandparents and the villagers frantically looked for her. After several days of searching, she was found in the jungle. When asked, she had no recollection of going into the jungle, how she survived for days in the jungle, and what happened the entire time she was in the jungle. She just didn’t remember anything at all. Again, she seemed completely fine, and so, again, her grandparents didn’t think too much about the possible explanation for the strange episode. Oya, and another thing, Sinting would also often seen seemingly talking to herself.

As Sinting entered her teen years, she grew out of the blacking out and disappearing episodes, but the talking to herself part remained. By that time, her grandparents, who knew that their time in this world was getting limited, began to prepare Sinting to take care of herself when they were eventually gone. Their plan was to marry her off and they got just the best candidate for it.

Enter Koo, a boy from the next village. Koo’s parents were acquaintance with Sinting’s grandparents. A decent, obedient and well-mannered boy who Sinting’s grandparents had been observing for quite some time. After completing secondary school, Koo applied and got accepted as a police officer. Sinting’s grandparents wasted no time and went in for the kill (no pun intended). Being a good boy that he was, Koo didn’t object, even though he didn’t know much about Sinting and her family. It was an arranged marriage, which was not uncommon back then.

The newly married couple moved into the married quarters at the Berakas police compound. It was a completely new environment for Sinting, who never had a boyfriend and never set foot anywhere away from her remote village before. She seemed to be adjusting well to the new role as a wife and the more modern life in the suburb. She also made friends with the police wives who lived in the same married quarters who she introduced herself to as Julie. Goodbye Sinting, and hello Julie.

Julie doted on her husband, who she considered as her knight in shining armor. What she was feeling, she never felt like that before, a sense of protection. With her father’s absence, the only “masculine” figure in her life before this was her grandfather, but even that was not even close to sense of security she was getting from her young police officer husband. Julie was so in love with her husband, but instead of being happy in love, she was consumed with extreme paranoia, paranoid that her husband would leave her for another woman.

Now, lets get back to Koo. Each day, Koo learned more and more about the girl that he married. The first thing he discovered was that Julie would often laugh and talk to herself. He didn’t think (yet) that something was off with her, he thought it was just a personality quirk. He also noticed that Julie is so clingy and wanted to be with him all the time. Except from going to work, Koo couldn’t go anywhere without Julie insisting to come along. He got no issue with that (at first), until he realised that when they went out together, Julie would seemingly observe his every move. If he as much as glances or looks at other women, let alone talks to one, Julie’s mood would instantly change and then flew into a jealous rage in the car, at home, for days at a time. Yikes!

The first of such incident happened shortly after their marriage. During a visit at a market, Koo bumped into three ladies, one of them was a classmate of his brother, so they exchanged greetings and started a short conversation. To his shock, Julie threw a fit and accused Koo of flirting and that the woman as “a special friend” to Koo. Throughout their marriage, Julie would bring up about this woman whenever she suspected Koo of infidelity. One could imagine how off-putting that would be, but being a good man that he is, Koo took it in stride. He learned to manage the situation by avoiding the “triggers”.

It wasn’t long after their marriage that Julie got pregnant. A baby would surely keep Julie’s mind away from constantly thinking that Koo was going to leave her for another woman. But, right about the time when Julie got pregnant with their first child, another issue emerged, something that happened only when Koo was at work. Julie would call him frantically asking him to go home because she had just seen something in their room, one time a tall white figure of a man, another time an old woman. These “hallucinations” got worse and worse with time.

The paranoia of losing her husband and the sightings of apparitions and ghostly figures had consumed Julie’s adult  married life with a lot of emotional distress and hysteria. Things quickly went downhill in 1986 when Julie (who already had 3 small children by then) had miscarriages, first in February, then in August, then in November. In December that year, one-month pregnant Julie, who was at sky-high emotional wreck, went berserk when Koo didn’t bring her to a function at the police training school despite being told that spouses were not invited to the event. Despite Julie’s tantrum, Koo went anyway. Uh-oh!

When Koo returned from the event that night, Julie had locked him out of the bedroom, which Koo totally expected. Predictable. So, he just slept on the couch. The next morning, he got up and went to work without attempting to enter the locked room. He knew well that there was nothing he could do or say to help the situation. When he returned from work that day, Julie was still in a stinky mood, which again Koo totally expected. Predictable. He knew that Julie would cool down eventually, “give it 2-3 days”, he predicted. But, Julie would never cool down and Koo would learn the hard way that his predictable wife was not totally predictable after all.

17 December 1986, Berakas Police Compound. Dun-Dun [Law & Order sound]

Koo left for work at 0625 am.

Around 0700 am, Nor, the police wife who lived nextdoor to the Koos was preparing her kids for school when she saw Julie’s head popping through the unit’s door. Julie said “Nor, will you tell my husband that I am going to kill myself” and left. Nor was shocked and just stood there, mouth agape, trying to process what she just heard. When she snapped out of it, a good 2-3 minutes later, she rushed to Julie’s unit. To her horror, she saw Julie stabbing herself in her stomach with a knife! WTF. She also heard the children crying from the bedroom. Nor screamed, startling everyone in the area.

Siti, another police wife who lived at the unit directly below the Koos rushed upstairs to see what was going on. She saw Julie cutting her throat with a knife. Now Siti too joined the screamfest.

Corporal M who was off duty was washing his car when he heard the screams. He rushed to the unit and saw Julie covered with blood but he didn’t see any knife with her. Seeing Corporal M, Julie went into the bedroom and locked its door. Corporal M could hear Julie crying in the room, he demanded Julie to open the door to no avail. The fact that Julie was covered in blood should prompt Corporal M to kick the door open. But he didn’t. Instead, he left and went to the police station to get reinforcement I suppose. Beats me. [Elevator music].

Back to Nor. After she was done screaming, she frantically knocked on a number of doors to get someone to do something quick. Corporal D was still in his towel when Nor knocked on his door. He quickly put some clothes on and rushed to the scene. He could hear children crying coming from the locked room. That would be the perfect cue for him to kick the door open. But he didn’t. Instead he just knocked and knocked, pleading for Julie to open the door and not to harm the children. This lasted for minutes. [Airport music]. Three more policemen would arrive at the scene. Julie eventually opened the door. By that time there were in total more than 10 policemen there including Corporal M (remember him?).

In the room, the three children were covered in blood with knife wounds on their bodies (stab wounds and lacerations on their chests and abdomens). They were all rushed to the hospital. Julie was also taken to the hospital. In the car, on the way to hospital, Julie was heard saying that her husband no longer loved her.

While processing the crime scene, police followed blood trails from the kitchen to the back door down the back stairs to the back of the building where they found  two bloody knives, a 14-inch and 10-inch. In the kitchen sink, they found a container labelled insecticide. They also found a note with some wordings written in Malay which translated to: “Goodbye beloved husband, I am going, won’t be back. I love you till I die”. It was clearly a murder suicide attempt. 

Sadly, the youngest of the children, 3-year-old girl succumbed to her injuries and died. According to the doctor, she could’ve been saved had she been given immediate medical attention. The first and the second child fortunately survived. Julie also survived. The stabbing on her stomach that Nor thought she saw was actually not that serious but when it came to slicing her children’s stomachs, Julie didn’t hold back.

Poor Koo, by the time he was notified and got home, all the children had already been taken to the hospital. He rushed to the hospital and was heartbroken when he saw a small body covered with white sheet. He was told that his second child was inside the operating theatre. He went to console his first child who was crying.

In court, Julie claimed that she didn’t remember anything that day. She didn’t remember writing the suicide note, she even denied that it was her handwriting; she didn’t remember stabbing and slicing her children; she didn’t remember going down the back stairs, out the backyard and hiding the knives; she didn’t remember telling her neighbour that she was going to kill herself. Oh wait, she did remember something. She remembered seeing the apparition of a large black man who then entered her body before she “blacked out” and only gained consciousness when she was at the hospital and was “extremely shocked” to hear what had happened. What a well-organised murder suicide attempt by someone who have blacked out or possessed for that matter.

As you may have guessed, Julie pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The tales from her childhood of blacking out and disappearing acts came in handy in strengthening her insanity plea. There was even an attempt to shift the blame on Koo for ignoring the red flags and not bringing Julie to see a mental illness doctor. Julie claimed that after receiving the necessary medication for her mental condition while in police custody, there had been no more sightings of apparitions and other ghostly figures. At no point that Julie claimed any responsibility for what “she” had done. An innocent child was dead, but Julie was more concerned and upset about Koo’s decision to divorce her without her consent.

The medical expert confirmed that Julie is indeed insane and was suffering from chronic parahold schizophrenia on the day of the murder suicide attempt. Therefore, it was ruled that Julie was not responsible for her acts at the time when they were done. Wow.

Born in 1968, KD grew up shorter than average boys his age. Growing up in Kg Sengkurong, he had a normal childhood. As an adult he stands at 5 feet 2 inches tall. But don’t be fooled by his short stature, as he would become one of the most prolific criminals in the country.

KD was never fond of school and by his teens he had already dropped out and began to mix with the wrong crowd. By adulthood, KD had established himself as a Kampung thug, got a tattoo, doing alcohol and drugs, gatecrashing parties, starting fights, creating all kinds of nuisance. This is in the late 1980s to early 1990s, when drugs and alcohol were notoriously easy to get, when parties with DJs and dancing are common, so as the parties ending with fights between drunk gangs. By all accounts, KD’s somewhat unruly behaviour was part of a phase that most youths at that time went through. What separates KD was that he had developed a penchant for sexual violence. 

KD is obsessed with sex with total disregard of age and consent. At age 26, KD found himself in court. Two of his god knows how many victims had reported him to the police, a 14-year-old and a 24-year-old. During the trial, KD was nonchalant. He pleaded not guilty claiming that the encounters were consensual. But physical evidence and witness statements secured his guilt. These include fresh abrasions found on both the victims’ bodies and their testimonies that KD had threatened to hurt or kill them if they tell anyone about the sexual assault. KD was found guilty and he was sentenced to a total of 16 years imprisonment and 20 strokes of the cane. 

If there is anything to learn from cases of sexual predators, putting them away in prison would only deny them the opportunity to hurt other women, but not eliminate their sick obsession. In a number of countries, upon release from prison they will be registered as sexual offenders, a valuable information for the community they are released into to be alert and take necessary measures. I don’t know if we have that information here and even if we do, I’ve not heard about its existence being informed to the public.

KD didn’t serve the full 16 years imprisonment as he was released early (for good behaviour??). Sure enough, KD would go out and rape women again. He had no care to conceal his crime and be sent back to prison. All he cared about was to fulfill his bottled up needs to sexually attack women. He managed to rape several women around the Bengkurong / Masin area before getting arrested in January 2008. How he managed to overpower those women given his size was pretty mind-boggling. As if that was not amazing enough, KD even managed to escape from police custody. A manhunt ensued with a $10,000 reward was offered for any information on his whereabout. Well, you know what they say, money talks. Within a week, KD was re-arrested. An Indonesian woman was harboring him, she too was arrested. KD was sent to jail again, this time 14 years imprisonment and 14 stokes of the cane, plus another 02 months in jail for escaping from police custody. Just like during the first time he was sentenced, KD didn’t show an inch of remorse. By now, it should’ve been established that KD could not and would not stop raping women, and he should not ever be released into the unsuspecting community. 

Again, KD didn’t serve the full 14 years imprisonment as he was released early (again!). Well, of course he would re-offend again. But what precautionary actions being taken to prevent that from happening? Nothing, I suppose. By that time, KD was 49 years old. The social terrain that he got out into was totally different from the “operational environment” he was familiar with. The internet, smart devices, social media, YouTube, selfies, have taken over people’s lives, at least for the most part the youths. KD found himself unable to find vulnerable women to prey on. His family who took him in tried as much as possible to monitor his activities. But, they were too naive or ignorant to recognise that KD is sick in the head and would not spare anyone just to feed his sick obsession – regardless whether they are small children or family members.

On 08 October 2017, KD entered the room of his 09 year old grandniece, bound her hands, covered her mouth with a pillow, then proceeded to rape her. In court, KD pleaded not guilty. The victim had to relive the nightmare when she testified in court (through a video link). In 2019, 51 year old KD was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. Due to his prior convictions, he was supposed to receive not less than 20 canings, but since he was already over 50, he escaped the cane and instead he got an additional six months jail sentence (in lieu of caning). 

KD would be 76 years old if he served the whole 25 years and 6 months jail term. Would he be released early again? Chances are he would. Would he re-offend again? Chances are he would try. Let’s just hope that when the time comes, the system won’t fail his prospective victim(s) again as it did with the 09 year old girl. 

It had been days since 45-year-old AR was last seen and heard by his family. On 25 January 2009, they received a call from the police informing that AR had died in his cell. It was only then that they found out about AR’s arrest for theft four days before the phonecall. His distraught family was left in shock. How did he die? That was the very question that AR’s family was so desperately seeking the answer to.

What parents aren’t worried about their kids mixing with the wrong crowd, getting into drugs, committing crimes. All parents are. But, getting killed, here in peaceful Brunei, while in the hands of the police even, is far beyond anything they could imagine to happen to their children.

On 28 January 2009, AR was buried at a Muslim cemetery in Kiulap. It is not known what else the police had said to AR’s family during the call other than informing about AR’s death and for the family to claim the body. But, one thing for sure, AR’s family was not willing to accept the death as an unfortunate case of a sudden death.

An autopsy was actually done on the deceased before the body was claimed and buried. At that point, the public was not yet aware of the death in custody incident. There was no pressure to reveal to the public on the findings of the autopsy. Furthermore, when the autopsy was done, the allegation of police brutality had not surfaced yet. So, obviously the medical examiner who did the autopsy was seeking to find out what natural causes that led to the sudden death, and not specifically looking for any sign of foul play.

According to a source, the autopsy report concluded that AR’s underlying health conditions would have likely contributed to his death, thus it was ruled a natural death. But, it was alleged that the autopsy also noted that there were bruises on AR’s body. Hmmm….well well well….

While acknowledging that AR indeed had some health issues, his family suspected that police were not forthcoming with the details about what actually happened that led up to his death, believing that there was foul play involved, hence the mysterious bruises on his body. Where does one report to such suspicion of crime when the alleged perpetrators are supposedly crime busters themselves? This is 2009 we are talking about, there was no WhatsApp, no social media, no viral phenomenon yet. So, the family went to the press.

On 29 January 2009, AR’s story was on the front page of the local newspaper with the headline “Police help sought on death in detention”. The article mentioned that AR’s family still don’t know the cause of AR’s death and thus sought police help to ascertain the cause. The public was shocked, outraged, they too now wanted answers. The police was faced with a major PR disaster. The same day, the police conducted a press briefing  announcing that “a thorough investigation is being done”. According to the police “On January 25th the deceased was found unconscious in the police cell by officers making their rounds in the detention cell. The medical services were immediately alerted to give assistance but he was pronounced dead at the scene” No cause of death was informed during the briefing with the police saying that they “are waiting to confirm the cause of death from the pathologist.” Wait, what?? It turned out that a pathologist from Singapore was enlisted to assist in producing a second post-mortem report. But, does it mean that AR’s body already buried on 28 January 2009 was exhumed??

During the press briefing, the police also announced that “so far there is no indication of any foul play.” Hellooo….What explains the bruises then??

On 02 February 2009, 04 police officers were brought before the court facing charges of manslaughter and grievous hurt over AR’s death – One police inspector, one L/Cpl and two PCs. Here was where more details came to light. The first charge of manslaughter alleged that sometime between 8.08pm and 0905pm, January 22^nd 2009, they allegedly committed culpable homicide not amounting to murder of AR. The second charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt for trying to extort a confession from AR. When arguing against the planned bail application, the DPP highlighted the likelihood that the defendants would temper with evidence referring to “some items” relevant to the prosecution that were yet to be recovered. Hmmm….what could that “some items” be?? Sounds to me like there were implements involved. With no cctv in the interrogation room, recovering those “items” could be critical as physical evidence for this otherwise circumstantial case.

On 09 February 2009, the four police officers made bail. They then appeared before the Magistrate’s court for further mention a couple of times (16 February 2009, 16 March 2009) before moving to the High Court for hearing on 30 March 2009. During the hearing no plea was taken from the defendants. The High Court adjourned the case due to the defendants defence counsel needing more time and several related documents. Throughout this, no further information about the case was divulged, nothing on the “items” as well. As the trial dragged on, it was clear that the prosecutor had a tough case to win, without the needed physical evidence. All they had was the testimony of AR’s accomplice in the theft that he was detained for, who claimed that he was there and saw the four police officers beating the crap out of AR (some brutal kicks and punches). The judge found the witness unreliable. In the end, in April 2011, the four police officers were acquitted of the charge and walked free, leaving AR’s family disappointed. 

So, what really happened in the interrogation room. Since there was no CCTV, only the four police officers knew what went down. It is not uncommon for detectives to yell, intimidate, make threats when interrogating suspects, as part of the good cop/bad cop tactic. Thats how they got information or confessions. We saw this on TV all the time. But, given the bruises on AR’s body, it looked like one, more or all of them got carried away. Some roughing up could be involved. Sure, if it led to AR’s death, it was not intentional, thus culpable homicide. Without strong physical evidence, it took a lot of good conscience for them to own up and admit that they messed up. Pleading guilty to culpable homicide would not only mean that they would be fired from the police force, they would also be put in jail joining the criminals that they helped put away. It was a grim scenario, perhaps why they said no thanks to good conscience. 

Brunei is a fairly safe country. The people are timid, crime rate is low. So, when Sajariah left her home town of Sumbawa for Brunei in January 2019 to work as a domestic helper, no one expected that she would come home in a casket, a victim of crime.

The crime scene was so bloody and gruesome. The murder bore the classic sign of a crime of passion, so epic as though something straight out of a true crime TV series. 

Her dead body was not found at a public place, not at a park, not by the roadside, not at a dark alley. Her body was found where she was murdered, the very house where she worked at STKRJ Kg Mumong. Why the picture of her bloody dead body made its way to social media is beyond me. It was a total disrespect to the deceased, her family and loved ones.

But, now that the graphic image is out in the open, it would, in some way, help Sajariah’s family get answers to her death. For one thing, the stab wounds on the neck and face definitely indicated that it was not a natural death. The pool of blood under her body showed that she was attacked right there indicating her employer’s house as the primary crime scene or the death scene. Most significantly, the multiple stab wounds and the blood bath indicated hatred or rage on the part of the attacker, throwing the excuse of “self-defense” or “burglary went wrong” out of the window. It was definitely something personal. 

Her employers, a Malay couple, have been arrested the same day of the murder. The case is still ongoing and if found guilty, they could face the death penalty. But, I have been disturbed by the many past murder cases where the defendants just convicted with culpable homicide meaning someone died, and the killers just got four to six years (wtf!!). Nobody got the right to take someone’s life, whether premeditated or not, whether they are insane or not, regardless how evil and deserving they thought the victim was, and to be handed down just 6 years jail sentence for murdering someone, there is no deterrent effect at all, in fact sending the wrong message to would-be killers to just go on and kill, you’ll be out in no time. 

The Royal Brunei Police Force will be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Wow! I can’t think of any other entity in the country which is older than that. I hope to see a cold case unit to be set up to chase after the murderers and criminals who got away and finally give the victims’ families the closure they deserve. They are long overdue.

As we begin 2021, here is a recap of crimes development in 2020 in alphabetical order.

A – Animal Cruelty. On 07 April 2020, an 80-year-old local man was charged with animal cruelty after videos of him bludgeoning seven puppies to death went viral on social media. The killing occurred on 31 March 2020 near a house in Kg Sungai Orok. The old man was later discharged “not amounting to an acquittal” following a psychologist report which stated that the old man is suffering from memory lapses and a deficit in reasoning faculties. I hate people who hurt animals.

B – Bridge User Dumping Garbage. In May 2020, a woman was caught on CCTV stopping her car along the Temburong bridge and dumping bags of rubbish into the water. The video went viral on social media. It was later announced that appropriate action had been taken on the woman, although no details followed on what was the “action”. I am more curious about what were in the garbage bags.

C – Car Racing. On 26 January 2020, seven people, all aged in the early 20s, were detained for illegal car racing. The racing took place along the road near the Tutong District Civic Centre Complex. They were issued fines and ordered to restore their vehicles according to the original specifications. The licenses of two of the vehicles involved in the race were also revoked. It they can afford to do modification to their cars and place bets on car races, the fines are nothing to them.

D – Daughters Abuse. On 21 October 2020, a 42-year-old local man was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment and seven whippings for abusing his two daughters. The abuse began in 2018. He was arrested after one of the daughters reported the abuse to her schoolteacher. Child abuse is one of the most common crimes in the country with the number of annual cases increasing over the years. Sad.

E – Escaped Murder Charge. In June and October 2020, three of the four suspects in the January 2017 murder of a man in Kuala Lurah escaped murder charge when they were convicted with just culpable homicide. The night of the murder, the three joined the assault team armed with weapons, lying and wait. They knew that someone will be killed, that someone’s dad, brother, son, husband will not be coming home that day. And they each just got 4 years jail sentence. Their jail term were to be backdated from the day they were first remanded, meaning they will be out soon in March 2021. Speechless….

F – Forged IC Syndicate. In September 2020, seven locals, all in their 20s, were detained under the ISA for their involvement in a syndicate for forged Brunei Darussalam’s ICs. They were planning to sell the forged ICs for $5k each. They also falsified official documents to procure bank loans from local financial institutions. Those smart assess got total disregard for the implication of what they were doing to the security of the country, all just for the money. It served them right to be arrested under the ISA. What a disgrace.

G – Gambling. One vice that is not affected by the pandemic is gambling, with ambushes by the police almost every month. 4 Digit lottery, katam-katam, mahjong, SCR 888, kolok-kolok, Sam Cheong, Pusoy, you name it. Oya, and cockfighting too. The activity could take place anywhere and since no one would get harmed from it (except their bank accounts), no random ambushes would stop the gamblers. 

H – Hotel Wild Party. On 5 April 2020, police personnel responded to complaints of loud music from a room on the fourth floor of the Aman Hills Hotel and uncovered 15 men and 5 women, aged between 16 to 27 having a late-night drunken party in the smoke-filled room. The irony here is that they were partying at a time when the Covid-19 mass gathering restriction order was in place. To make matters worse, in the midst of the havoc, four had attempted to escape by climbing down from the balcony to the third floor, towards the room of a person undergoing self-isolation. 

I – Infant Abandoned. On 01 January 2020, a newborn baby was found in a box at an electric sub-station on the Muara-Tutong Highway, The baby was immediately placed in the ICU but didn’t make it and passed away 27 days later. Baby dumping is not uncommon in Brunei with cases almost every year, at some point reaching 6 cases in a year. These baby dumpers should be put in the ring with the puppy killer and let them fight each other to death for the scum of the earth title.

J – Jewelry Heist. On 12 December 2020, two men, armed with a machete and a hammer, barged into a goldsmith in Kampong Tanjung Bunut commercial area, broke the glass display and helped themselves with nine gold necklaces. Both were later arrested. There have been robberies on jewelry shops before in the country, but this is the first time that the act involved weapons. It also happened during pandemic time, where the sight of people wearing masks at the vicinity of jewelry stores and banks are not suspicious. While a number of people quickly linked the robbery to drugs and unemployment, I think those two idiots just wanted to deliberately go back to living in jail. Both are career thieves, been in and out of jail many times. The police are extremely familiar with them, and with their masks just covering their mouths and exposing their eyes and their noses, not wearing gloves and all, it was a total giveaway. And why not use weapons this time to secure a longer stay at prisonville.  

K – Knives Everywhere. In the past three years, we are beginning to see knives-wielding criminals more and more in the country including a number of them in 2020. On 15 January, a 39-year-old local man used a knife to obtain by force a sling bag from a 71-year-old senior citizen at a commercial building in Kampong Sungai Liang. On 04 March 2020, a Malaysian man threatened a woman at a house in Kampong Lambak Kiri by pointing a knife to her throat after the woman rejected his love. On 20 March 2020, a Philippine national went to his girlfriend’s workplace at a healthcare centre in Serusop, holding a knife, pulling her hand and forcing her to go home. On 29 May 2020, a 35-year-old local man offered a foreign national, who was waiting for a bus at a bus stop in Panaga, for a ride, to which the foreign man agreed. In the car, the man took out a knife and forced the victim to pay him $20 for the ride  or surrender his phone. On 29 November 2020, a 30-year-old local man pulled a knife on the cashier of convenience shop in Jalan Pasir Berakas, asking him to hand over proceeds of the shop.

L – Livestock Theft – In 2019, we saw fruits like mangoes and durians being victims of thefts. In 2020, it was the livestock turn to be snatched. On 28 May 2020, a 39-year-old man stole a goat from an enclosure at Jalan Singa Menteri in Kuala Belait. The police recovered the goat from a shop in Seria, where the man had sold it for $140.  

M – Maid Murder – Cases with housemaids are not all that bizarre here in Brunei. In the 1990s, at the Tutong District, a mentally unstable housemaid murdered her employer’s toddler. In 2014, also at the Tutong District, a foreign housemaid attacked and injured her employer with a knife. Cases of housemaids stealing from their employers are not uncommon, including one high profile armed robbery on a Pehin’s house, (or should I say…mansion), masterminded by the Pehin’s maid herself. Maids as victims are also not uncommon here with a number of high profile maid abuse cases. But, a maid being murdered? never happened before, that was until October 2020 when a photo of the dead body of an Indonesian maid in a pool of blood went viral on social media. She was allegedly murdered by her psycho employers at their house in STKRJ, Kg Mumong. The case is still ongoing. I sure hope the police did not mess up the evidence or contaminate the crime scene. For people who have been following past cases defended by the psycho couple’s lawyer, they should know what my concern is.

N – Narco Empire. At last, in 2020, a narco-selling empire, which existed for so long, was obliterated. Dubbed the Musang King operation, the NCB on 10 September 2020 raided three separate houses in Jalan Junjungan, Kampong Limau Manis and rounded up 13 locals suspected of being involved in drugs trafficking activities, comprising nine men and four women aged between 18-59 years. More than 19kgs of drugs believed to be Class ‘A’ drug – Syabu, estimated to have a market value of BND3,700,000 were confiscated, in what become the NCB’s largest haul ever. More and more arrests followed as the members of the drugs ring fell like dominos. 

O – Obnoxious Local Kevins. On 04 April 2020, a 44-year-old man who was undergoing quarantine at the Sports Village had purposely removed his facemark and coughed in front of frontliners. Then on 03 May 2020, he threateningly waved a pocket knife to an MOH staff also at the Sports Village. In another case, on 17 June 2020, a 32-year-old local man, one of the vendors at the Gadong night market, slapped and punched two Bangladeshi cleaners at the market for failing to give him cigarettes and money that he had randomly asked from them. Upon given a warning by police personnel patrolling the market, the man then sent an audio recording through WhatsApp containing intimidation to one of the policemen. What an idiot. He was sentenced to 26 months’ imprisonment.

P – Prostitution. I was wrong to think that prostitution would be on a hiatus with the pandemic travel restriction. While Vietnamese prostitutes couldn’t enter Brunei after the imposition of travel restriction in March 2020, stranded Vietnamese prostitutes who were already here before the travel restriction got a pleasant extension of their “residency”. Ambushes at a number of hotels in May, June and July 2020, resulted in the detention of 04 Vietnamese prostitutes. The year 2020 also saw another “milestone” in the, should I say localisation effort, with the uncovering of another local prostitute. The 35-year-old local woman was caught providing the service at a rest house in Serusop in May 2020. 

Q – Quarantine Escapers. Other countries asked us how did we do it, how did Brunei manage to get all its people to listen and adhere to the Covid-19 regulations. Well, things were not as perfect as people thought. In March 2020, a local was arrested for escaping quarantine. In August 2020, 04 Malaysians who were apprehended at Kuala Lurah for entering Brunei illegally, had escaped from the Games Village where they were supposed to undergo 14-day mandatory quarantine. They just walked out the back gate. They were later arrested by the Malaysian police who handed them back to the Brunei Police. Great escape artists or bad security lax?   

R – Rock-Throwing Fun-Seeking Man. He is not insane, he was just bored. On 14 November 2020, a 51-year-old man who apparently hates car windows, picked up a rock and threw it at a passing car. He did the same thing again on 25 November 2020 to another passing car. The windows of both cars were shattered. Luckily none of the drivers and passengers was hurt, although they were left shaken. He was arrested and sentenced to two years imprisonment. When asked why he did it, the man said, “I don’t understand”, “just for fun” and “I don’t know”. But, why even bother asking him his motive when he actually just got out of prison from an 08 months jail sentence for, yep…you guessed it, for throwing a rock at a passing car. 

S – Suicide Attempt. Like in any other countries, attempting suicide is a crime. And like in any other countries as well, bridges are one of suicide hotspots. So when the fancy Temburong Bridge was opened in 2020, I thought it would be a matter of time before someone uses it to attempt suicide. But, on 03 September 2020, the smaller and shorter RIPAS bridge beat the SOAS bridge to it when a 30-year-old local man was allegedly trying to jump off the bridge in a suicide attempt. I said allegedly because it was later revealed that the man was just sitting on the edge of the bridge likely just letting off steam over a personal issue and concerned passersby assumed that he wanted to jump off the bridge. He was fined $1,500 for a charge of causing public nuisance. 

T – Toilet Filmmaker. In October 2020, a 21-year-old local man was sentenced to 18-month imprisonment for letting his d1ck got the better of him. He was at his friend’s house on 02 October 2021 when he saw the friend’s sister going into the bathroom, took his phone out, and from the gap under the door, started filming. The following day, he went to the friend’s house again and captured some more bathroom action, this time he raised his phone to film from a small vision lite above the bathroom door. The day after that, he went there yet again. Some people just don’t know how to quit while they are ahead. But third time not a charmer for him as the lady in the bathroom saw his hand holding the mobile phone as he was filming through the vision lite. Well, the rest is history.  

U – Undergarment Theft – Some people steal for the thrill, some people steal due to financial distress, but for this thief, he stole to feed his fetishism, yep! for ladies undergarments specifically bras. In April 2020, a 27 year-old local was caught in action while busy nabbing some undergarments from a clothesline at the backyard of a house in Kg Pandan 1 Kuala Belait. With the arrest, the mystery of missing undergarments in the area was finally unravelled when police found the stolen items in his possession. Undergarment theft is not a new crime in the country as there have been similar arrests before (lets just say enough to start a support group for their common fetishism). So ladies, just hang dry your bras and panties inside.  

….

Ever wondered whatever happened to the boys and girls from your primary school? The girl who sat next to you in class, the boy who was slightly taller for his age, the smart girl who always came first, the teacher’s pet, the loud boys. I don’t know if anyone keeps track. Despite Brunei being small and all, I never bumped into anyone of them. Oh wait, I did encounter one, she’s working at the library in our ministry, I just said hey and she said hey back and that was it.

Osman was sitting alone in a restaurant one morning, sipping on his teh tarik. He stared far off into the distance, in deep thought. He can’t get his mind off what he was told recently, about what had happened to one of his primary schoolmates, O.B. It was so epic, almost too hard to believe.

Osman went to Sekolah Melayu Kiulap back in the early 70s. O.B was his classmate from Darjah 1 to Darjah 4. Osman remembered O.B as a smart boy, well-behaved, the type that parents and teachers believed was destined to do great things in life. Thus why Osman finds the recent news about O.B all too hard to fathom. What could possibly disrupt his path to greatness and at which point did he make the detour and do a complete 180.

After Darjah 4, O.B expectedly aced the qualifying test and was selected for admission to the Arabic School (Sekolah Arab), leaving Osman and his other primary school classmates behind. O.B’s last day at the Sekolah Melayu Kiulap would be the last time that Osman would see or hear from him.

Sekolah Arab is a boarding school, meaning at the tender age of 10, the little boys and girls are plucked out of their parents’ supervision and normal family life. Their parents may not even realise the life altering impact that separation would bring to their children. Perhaps, when O.B entered the Arabic School, that was the point when his journey to greatness went off rail.

By the time O.B was 18, he had lost interest in education, flunked his exams, dropped out of school, became anti-social. The teenager who returned home was not the same person whom his parents were so proud of eight years before. What they got was a complete stranger. The smart little O.B had literally left the building.

It seemed like O.B had no interest to continue his education. He would stay out all night and would only come home at wee hours. Sometimes he didn’t come home at all. His parents could only watch helplessly as O.B wasted his life. They had no idea where O.B went to, what he was doing, and who he hanged out with every night. Every day, they prayed that O.B would stay out of vice.

Then came one day, every parent’s worst nightmare, the police came to their house looking for O.B., 19 at that time, who was wanted in connection to a sexual assault on a woman. O.B wasn’t in his room at that time, but he was caught later after a brief manhunt.

The teenage school girl he sexually assaulted was an acquaintance of his. They were in the same group of wild teens who went party-hopping together. But that didn’t mean that the girl wanted to get it on with him. One day, at wee hours, after a night of partying, they stopped at Tungku beach where O.B proceeded to force his way on the girl. O.B went home that night thinking that the girl would just let it go. Days went by and O.B was sure that he got away with it, that was until….the girl was found dead by her parents. She had committed suicide by drinking gramoxone (weed killer) leaving a note about how she was raped by O.B. Her parents went straight to the police which led to O.B’s arrest.

O.B was sentenced to 8 years in jail for the crime. His parents were in shock but at the same time relieved that instead of having to wonder every day, they could know exactly where O.B would be – in the slammer. O.B would only serve 6 years of that jail term, released early for some reason.

Living back in the community, what could a school drop out, ex convict do? Nothing. And that was exactly what O.B was doing after he was released from prison – Nothing. There was also no pressure for O.B to find employment, as his parents and siblings supported him financially, they were more eager to catch up on lost time.  Now, what could a school drop out, ex convict, with steady pocket money do? He used the money to buy drugs. And yeah…lets throw in some gambling in there as well.

One September night in 2020, O.B was in a house at Kg Lorong Dalam in the water village, playing the game of Katam-Katam (gambling). In the middle of it, he received a text from his contact informing that a big raid, the mother of all raids, was going down that night. Seconds later, he heard some commotion outside. Thinking that the police could burst in anytime, O.B panicked, went straight to the window and jumped out. It is not known whether he was well aware or he forgot that he was at Kg Ayer, meaning he had jumped down into the water. When he landed, in pitch darkness, he felt something seared through his left thigh. Ouch!

O.B let out a blood curdling scream as the pain was so excruciating. He knew his leg was bleeding profusely and that he could pass out anytime. Adding to his agony, he felt the water around him swooshed and saw something moving. A crocodile! O.B mustered all his remaining strength and yelled as loud as he could, tolooooong! (helllllpppp!). Then, he blacked out.

O.B woke up on a hospital bed with his parents and siblings around him. He turned his head to the left, to check if his whole left hand and all the fingers were intact. Then he turned right to check the other hand. Then he nervously glanced down to check his feet. He took a long sigh of relief to see that his two feet are still there.

Fortunately for O.B, there were some people who heard his yell for help that night. They were onlookers who formed a crowd at the area, curious about the commotion that was going on. It turned out that it was the house next door that was raided that night. It was the Musang King Operation by the Narcotics Control Bureau.

There are a number of possible reasons as to why battered wives didn’t choose to leave their abusive husbands. Some stayed in the hope that their husbands will change. Some don’t want to see their children grow up without a father. Some fear that their husbands will hunt them down and kill them or harm their kids or loved ones. Some had their self-worth reduced to zero that they thought they won’t survive out there without their husbands. For some, getting a divorce is out of the question, whether due to religion or pride. It is not known which one of these was the reason why 46-year-old G didn’t leave her abusive husband, instead chose to endure years of  physical abuse by him, only to snap in 2001 after 10 children and 19 years of marriage.

On 18 April 2001, G’s 43-year-old husband fell extremely ill and was rushed to the hospital. As his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to the ICU on 08 May 2001 where he eventually succumbed to his illness 5 days later.

What a bummer for G. But she had no time to dwell much on the loss because after 19 years the now unemployed widow got 10 children to feed and take care of. That is such a big feat. The assurance of support from her family gave her some comfort that she could do it.

G was ready to pick up the pieces and move on. But na-ah, not so fast. Hospital staff were bugged by the way G’s husband died, sensing that something was off. An autopsy was done on the deceased and it was stated in the report that he had died due to renal / respiratory failure, and their suspicion was confirmed, the deceased was poisoned.

Well, like in any other murder cases, the police will first look at 3 persons – the spouse / significant other, the last person who saw the victim alive and the person who found the body. In this case, all 3 pointed to the same person – the supposedly grieving wife, G.

G was brought in for interrogation where she immediately confessed. G told about the years of physical abuse she endured in the hands of her alcoholic husband. He would beat, strangle and burn G with a lighted cigarette. He had also stabbed her on the neck with a Keris (traditional dagger). The last straw that broke the camel’s back was when the husband began to beat up their children. It was at that point that G became determined that the abuse needed to stop. Good for her for finally taking a stand, but if only she had chosen a less criminal way to achieve that.

The plan to poison her husband was set in motion on 14 April 2001, when G instructed her 14-year-old son to get rat poison that would be mixed into her husband’s alcoholic drink. According to G, the poison was meant to get her husband sick and not meant to kill him. Well lady, the skull and crossbones symbol on poison bottles is there for a reason – poison kills people.

On 18 April 2001, the son informed G that he could not find rat poison but was able to find weed killer. By this time, G got a lot of time to change her mind, but no, they proceeded to mix the poison into the alcoholic drink bottles and tucked the bottles neatly back into the cabinet. It would be hours before her husband would get home from work but still G and the son didn’t entertain any second thought about their plan.

In the evening, the husband came back from work and went straight to the cabinet to take out the alcohol drink. G just watched as her husband consumed the poison. He did mention to G that the alcohol tasted different but continued drinking.

After her confession, G was ordered to undergo mental evaluation. Eventhough she pleaded guilty, being assessed as having an unsound mind would help take out some years in her jail sentence. She also underwent medical examination where she was found to have some injuries on her body which substantiated her allegation of physical abuse.

On her allegation that her husband had also abused her children, medical checks on them didn’t find any injuries or marks. However, the police had uncovered a report, made by a social worker at the Lamunin Police Station on 20 May 1999, saying that G’s 14-year-old daughter was found to have been physically abused. Although this report was later retracted by G, it provided some indication on the likelihood that the husband did physically abuse their children as well.

On 04 September 2001, G pleaded guilty to an amended charge of committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder and was sentenced to 3 years in jail. Don’t try to adjust your screen, yep it is really 3 you’re seeing.