Man accused of fatally stabbing mother in the neck

A jobless man with a history of paranoid schizophrenia killed his mother by stabbing her in the neck and slitting her throat with three different knives, the High Court heard yesterday.

Sujay Solomon Sutherson, 34 - who is on trial for culpable homicide - confessed to police that he left two knives embedded in the neck of Madam Mallika Jesudasan, prosecutors contended.

Two of his siblings and his uncle said they searched for the 56-year- old woman - an administrator in a public relations firm - near the family's Bukit Batok flat before finding her body under Sujay's bed.

The divorcee is believed to have been killed between 6.30pm and 10.45pm on May 27, 2012.

An autopsy found that she bled to death from three stab wounds, any one of which could have been fatal.

Sujay, the oldest of three children, is also said to have admitted to police that he tried to burn his mother's body.

If convicted, he faces life imprisonment or a term of up to 20 years.

Madam Jesudasan was last seen alive by daughter Sheena, 31, who left the flat at 6.35pm, leaving her mother alone with Sujay.

When Madam Jesudasan's other son Sunil, 28, returned home at about 10.40pm, his mother was not around and Sujay could not tell him where she was.

The siblings called their uncle Daniel Jesudasan for help. They went out to search for Madam Jesudasan before returning to the flat.

Mr Jesudasan testified that when he pulled out a suitcase under Sujay's bed, he saw a pair of legs.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kumaresan Gohulabalan said that Sujay had a scuffle with his uncle in the living room before two police officers arrived to arrest him.

Mr Sunil said his brother began behaving strangely in 2005, when he stuck adhesive tape on TV buttons. In 2006, their mother suggested that he seek psychiatric treatment, which he did. But Mr Sunil said he had seen his brother throwing away his medication.

The trial, which is scheduled for 10 days, continues.

This article was first published on July 07, 2015.
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