Man in alleged parang attack found dead in flat

SINGAPORE - A man allegedly attacked two neighbours with a parang yesterday, before returning to his own flat and setting it on fire.

He was later found dead by Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) paramedics, who had to force their way into his unit on the eighth floor of a block of rental flats in Marsiling Road.

The man had slashed his neighbour, a 63-year-old cleaner named Majid, and a 60-year-old female neighbour who tried to intervene.

Mr Majid, who has three children, was repairing his bicycle near the third-storey lift lobby when the man set upon him with a parang. It is unclear what sparked the scuffle, which lasted for about five minutes.

Another neighbour, Madam Jainah Awang, 65, said: "Majid's whole body was covered in blood. He said he was in great pain. His daughter was crying out for help in Malay, that's when I went over to help."

Shouting frantically for help, Mr Majid ran down to the second storey to seek refuge in the flat of an elderly resident.

He locked her out during the commotion, and told the elderly woman's daughter, who gave her name only as Sue, who was in the unit, to call the police.

Ms Sue, in her early 30s, had been visiting her mother.

She said Mr Majid ran into the flat with slash wounds on his forearms, one of his palms and knees.

"The wounds on Majid looked very serious. I was scared to be trapped inside with him because we didn't know what was happening," said the housewife.

Both Mr Majid and the neighbour who tried to intervene were sent to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

The hospital said last night that Mr Majid suffered multiple slash wounds and will undergo an operation.

His condition is stable. The second victim, who suffered minor cuts on her chin and palm, was placed under observation.

After the attack, police officers seized two knives from the scene and cordoned off several areas in the block, including the eighth floor unit where the fire took place.

The SCDF said it was alerted to the fire at 5.20pm.

Paramedics found the man lying motionless on the floor after entering the flat, and pronounced him dead on the scene at about 6pm.

The fire mostly raged in the living room, and it was extinguished with a water jet.

melodyz@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 27, 2015.
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