2 Malaysian brothers charged with murder after 6 bodies found in burnt Johor house
The deceased - including five from a family - were discovered in January in a burnt house at an oil palm plantation in Kangkar Pulai. Three of them were children aged two to nine.
The charred skeletal remains of six people were found in this burnt house at an oil palm plantation in Kangkar Pulai, Johor. (Image: Facebook/Johor Polis)
JOHOR BAHRU: Two Malaysian brothers have been charged with murder after the charred skeletal remains of six people were found in a burnt house at an oil palm plantation in Kangkar Pulai, Johor.
Five of the six deceased were from the same family, including three young children aged two to nine.
R Arasan, 32, who appeared on crutches, and his brother, R Utes, 36, nodded when the charges were read out to them at the Johor Bahru magistrates’ court on Wednesday (Feb 4).
They are accused of jointly murdering V Thamil Selvan, 28, at an unnumbered house at the Kangkar Pulai plantation in the early hours of Sep 15 last year, national news agency Bernama reported.
The victim was among six sets of charred skeletal remains found inside the burnt-down house early last month, according to local media reports.
The other remains included those of a 35-year-old woman, a 19-year-old girl, two girls aged nine and five and a two-year-old boy, Bernama reported.
Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad said at a press conference on Tuesday that five of the deceased were from the same family.
The husband of one of the victims lodged a police report on Jan 9 after coming across the remains while searching for his missing wife and children, the police chief said in remarks carried by local news outlets.
“Based on pathology and post-mortem reports, the deaths are estimated to have occurred approximately three months ago,” Ab Rahaman said.
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He added that the children had no school records and that the house was isolated, situated about 2km from the main road and far from other residential areas.
Four suspects aged between 19 and 35 were subsequently arrested on Jan 21 in the Iskandar Puteri area, including the two brothers charged with murder on Wednesday. The other two have been released on police bail as prosecution witnesses.
All the suspects had prior criminal records and three of them tested positive for methamphetamine, Ab Rahaman said, as reported by local media outlets New Straits Times and The Star.
The court denied bail to the brothers and set Apr 6 for case mention, pending the autopsy, toxicology and DNA test reports of the deceased.
Forensic reports are expected to take up to two months to complete, and the chemical and medical reports will be finalised within the same timeframe, local media quoted Ab Rahaman as saying on Wednesday.
The Johor police chief declined to disclose the motive behind the alleged killings, saying it would be revealed during the trial.
If convicted of murder, offenders may face the death penalty or up to 40 years’ imprisonment and up to 12 strokes of the cane.
