KLANG (Nov 15, 2009): The husband of R.Seetha, the woman who drank paraquat and fed it to her four children was called in today for questioning by police following a twist in the case.
The man who is in his late 30's and identified as Manimaran was taken from the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (TARH) here to the Klang district police headquarters by a police team to assist police in determining the true cause of Seetha resorting to such drastic action.
The woman who is from Seremban, her five–year–old son Kugan and eight–year–old eldest daughter Darshini are said to remain in serious condition at the hospital's intensive care unit.
Her two other daughters seven–year–old Usharani and three–year–old Navina are warded at the regular ward are believed to be out of danger.
It was initially reported on Thursday that Seetha was distraught over the death her brother Surendran who was among five suspected robbers gunned down by police at Taman Klang Utama a week ago and had consumed and fed her children the sugared weedkiller fluid on Thursday "with hopes of meeting the dead man".
However, police investigations are showing that the crack in her sanity may not be due to her brother's death.
"We are not ruling out other possiblities which led her to such actions. We have called in her husband for questioning and hope he could shed some light." said Selangor police CID chief SAC II Datuk Hasnan Hassan.
He said police investigations have also revealed that the paraquat, which is a controlled poison was obtained by Seetha two weeks before her brother died and not after.
Kapar MP S.Manikavasagam when contacted said the circumstances surrounding the incident was questionable.
"I reiterate that the police should not have gunned down the five youths but instead arrested them for investigations. However, to say the woman committed suicide because of her the grief of her brother's death does not make sense.
"The police are doing their homework well and I believe they know the real reason behind why she attempted suicide. We have to be fair to the police. We cannot blame them for everything that goes awry or for what is not their fault." he said.
He also condemned the woman's actions in allegedly trying to kill her children.
"I do not know what was running through her mind but she should not have tried to snatch the innocent lives of her children." he said.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Party of Malaysia information chief S.Jayathas said the police are trying to divert the attention on the case by implying that the suicide bid was due to Manimaran allegedly ill–treating his family and was having an extra–marital affair.
He also alleged that the police and TARH authorities had forced Seetha to sign a document refuting the suicide attempt was due to her brother's death.
Husband of mass suicide bid woman questioned
16 Nov 2009 12:00 am