JOHOR BARU: This could easily be a Halloween movie but the murder of a woman, eerie screams, and the discovery of skeletal remains in a well are not spooking moviegoers in cinemas but the residents of Kampung MIC here.

All was well in the village until Oct 6 when a woman was found murdered in her house; her 22-year-old son who is the prime suspect had allegedly put her body in a travelling bag and left it under the kitchen sink.

House of the dead: Nasrul looking at the house where the man allegedly killed his mother at Kampung MIC in Johor Baru.

That was enough to put the village residents in a state of heebie-jeebies.

Their anxiety deepened last Wednesday when the suspect led the police to the skeletal remains of a woman in a well. Since then, several residents have claimed that they are hearing eerie screams.

Cleaner Rokiah Sarumin, 60, said she had been living in the area for 30 years but the noises only started after the skeletal remains were discovered in the well.

"Initially my neighbour asked me whether I heard screams at night but I just dismissed it as a joke.

"However, at about 3am on Friday, I, too, heard screams," she said, adding that she immediately recited prayers.

Rokiah said the screaming continued for several minutes and then died off.

Crime site: The well where the skeletal remains were found last Wednesday.

Of the woman who had been murdered, Rokiah refuted media reports that she was deaf and mute, saying they had spoken to each other everyday.

Housewife Salmah Hanim, 45, said the eerie noise came from the well.

"My house is near the well where the skeletal remains were found and the first time I heard the voice was on Thursday morning at around 3am.

"I was terrified and told my husband but he dismissed it," she said, adding that she planned to talk to her husband about moving out of the area.

Rokiah's grandson Nasrul Amrani, 19, who works in a petrol station, said the suspect hardly spoke to his neighbours.

Nasrul said he had only seen the son raising his voice after he had consumed alcohol.

Yesterday, Johor CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Datuk Amer Awal said police were still trying to identify the skeleton remains in the well.

For now, he said all they knew was that the remains were those of a woman aged between 20 and 30 years.

He said the police were investigating whether the woman was either a family member or the suspect's lover.

"We are looking through our missing persons record. We also urge members of the public who have someone missing over the last six months to lodge a police report," he said.

He said the suspect was at Hospital Permai for psychiatric evaluation.