Woman found dead in Melaka home after alleged attempt to harm autistic son

MELAKA, MALAYSIA — A woman was found dead, believed to have stabbed herself after attempting to kill her autistic son in an incident at a house in Taman Kota Laksamana on Wednesday (12 Jul).

The deceased, a 56-year-old woman, was divorced and had two sons, aged 28 and 26, with the younger one being autistic and living with her. The younger son survived the incident but suffered injuries to his neck from the stabbing.

According to Malaysian media reports, the incident came to light when the young man called his 80-year-old grandmother at around 3 pm to inform her that he had been stabbed by his mother.

The sister of the deceased, Ms. Huang, who spoke to the media, stated that the younger son told his grandmother that his mother had collapsed in the living room.

Ms. Huang and the mother of the deceased hurried to her sister’s house to investigate, only to find her lying motionless in the living room, with a cold body temperature and dried blood.

They suspected that the incident might have occurred three hours earlier during the noon period.

“When we arrived, the younger son had locked himself in his room. When he came out, we saw that his throat was stabbed, and he was subsequently taken to the hospital for treatment.”

Prior to the incident, the mother allegedly made her autistic son consume a large amount of painkillers. Then, while he was napping, she attempted to kill him with a kitchen knife. The son resisted, locked himself in his room, and called his grandmother for help.

The sister added that before the incident, her sister’s behavior had changed, becoming silent and unresponsive to the family members, suggesting that she was under pressure.

“We suspect that she wanted to go (die) together with her son. She was a single mother and had two children, with the victim being the younger of the two siblings, while the elder one is 28 years old,” she said.

It is understood that the deceased used to volunteer at Tzu Chi and worked at a daycare center, while her younger son, whose surname is Chong, was unemployed. The elder son lived elsewhere.