A woman has been lying unconscious in the Penang Hospital after being injured by a man at her husband’s water pump shop in Jelutong on Christmas Eve (24 Dec).Â
Her husband, Lau Chin Chern told WeirdKaya that his wife, Tan Li Xia, was found unconscious in the store room when he returned to the shop on the day of the incident.
Wife Found Unconscious
“I left the shop at 4 pm that day and was worried because my wife did not pick up my call a few times around 5 pm. When I returned to the shop around 6.30 pm, the whole shop was in complete darkness, which is weird because the shop has automatic lighting from 12 to 6.”
In the dark, due to the switched-off electrical box, he spotted piles of A4 paper near the door front and walking in further, he felt puddles of liquid on the floor, which he soon found out to be his wife’s blood.
Following his wife’s strong moaning breath, he found his wife with a bloody face, so he quickly called 999 to get an ambulance but was asked too many questions. To avoid delay in treatment, he sent his wife to the general hospital himself instead after seeing his wife moving her hands and head due to the pain.
Meanwhile, his brother helped him make a police report. The police came to the hospital that night to inform Lau that a forensic investigation had been carried out. They told him the incident seemed to be on purpose to make up a robbery scene instead of an actual robbery, as the forensic team did not find any sign of fighting.
Thus, they wondered if he had any enemy that might have been finding an act of revenge. The 36-year-old said he could only recall an ex-technician caught red-handed a few times for embezzlement, stealing companies’ resources, etc.
Regarding the loss in the incident, his company’s server, the CCTV recorder, the modem and his wife’s eco bag with her phone and wallet were missing.
Fortunately, the items in the eco bag were spotted in dustbins nearby and returned to the owner. The CCTV was also found in a dustbin nearby.
His wife, Tan, is still in the ICU and yet to be awakened as her injuries in the brain make her condition unpredictable, and she is still waiting for some surgeries. Thus, nothing from the first-person perspective can be obtained yet.Â
Police StatementÂ
Timur Laut District Acting Police Chief V. Saravanan said on Friday (30 Dec) that the woman in her 50s has been in the ICU since the incident at her husband’s water pump shop around 4 pm last week (24 Dec).
He said during the incident, a man in his 50s had come to the shop and asked to see the victim’s husband. When the woman told him that her husband was not in, the man started hitting her with a blunt object until she was severely injured in the face, and then he robbed her of the money, Saravanan said when contacted by Bernama.
So far, the police arrested a man in the district for questioning one day after the incident (25 Dec). Saravanan has appealed to the public, who had information on the matter, to contact the police.
The Suspects
 Lau provided the police with two suspects, both his ex-staff. The main suspect was a technician of supervisor level in his company that was asked to resign due to various actions that brought losses to the company for his benefit.
They made an appointment to meet on 24 Dec to sort out some things regarding customer cases on his hands and the return of money at 11 am that day. However, the suspect did not turn out until the late afternoon, before Lau attended his customer’s appointment around 4 pm.
The other is 20+ years old and follows the main suspect a lot.
Yet to be comprehendedÂ
However, there are a few points Lau feels suspicious about and wishes to clarify. Firstly, his wife is only 37 years old and not in her 50s, as announced by the police. The suspect is 31 years old, not around 50.
Lau visits the police station to follow up on the case almost every day, and as far as he knows, the arrested suspect was said to have admitted his crime, but the evidence is not enough now to put a charge on him.
The police checked the CCTV of streets and shops nearby and spotted the suspect at one of the back alleys the day before the incident.
The CCTV memory card was found at the suspect’s house, but the memories were cleared off. So far, only one suspect has been arrested even though the police also suspected more than one person was in action due to reasons like the suspect’s shoe was found missing.
Therefore, Lau appeals to the public who holds any information about the case to help the police investigate and bring the suspect(s) to justice for his cruel act.
Read more:
Cover image via Kwong Wah Yit Poh
