KOTA BHARU, May 2 — Jealousy is believed to be the motive behind the murder of a 19-year-old college student whose body was found with 61 stab wounds in Keterah yesterday.

Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said investigators suspect the victim was stabbed to death by her 19-year-old boyfriend, who allegedly believed she was having an affair, the New Straits Times reported today.

“Initial investigations showed that an argument broke out between the victim and the suspect, which led to her death.

“She is believed to have been stabbed while inside the suspect’s car,” the senior policeman was quoted as saying.

He said the boyfriend, identified as the main suspect, was arrested yesterday alongside another youth believed to be a friend of the victim.

Both are now under a seven-day remand order.

The policeman added that the boyfriend’s parents — a 66-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman – have also been detained for the next three days to assist in investigations.

The remand orders were issued by Magistrate Amirul Asyraf Abdul Rasid today, the New Straits Times reported. 

Mohd Yusoff confirmed all suspects have no prior criminal records and tested negative for drugs.

He said investigations into the case are ongoing under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, which carry the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years, as well as whipping upon conviction.

Local media had earlier identified the victim as 19-year-old Nurfisya Zulkifly from Kuala Kangsar, Perak who had just returned to her Ketereh college campus to start a new semester a week ago.

Her body with 61 stab wounds was found by the roadside near a paddy field in Kampung Simah yesterday and was buried early this morning in her hometown.

KOTA BHARU, May 2 — Police have detained two more suspects to help with the probe into the discovery of a 19-year-old woman’s body with 61 stab wounds near paddy fields in Kampung Simah, Ketereh, early yesterday morning.

This brings the total number of suspects in the case to four.

Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said a team from the Kelantan Contingent Police Headquarters’ Criminal Investigation Department, working with Kota Bharu district police headquarters, launched a raid from 4.40 pm yesterday until 2.30 am today.

He said the raid targeted two separate locations, Taman Murni on Jalan Abdul Kadir Adabi and Kampung Belukar Luas in Ketereh.

“The raid resulted in the arrest of three men aged 19 to 66 and a 60-year-old woman.

“All those arrested had no prior criminal records, and their urine tests came back negative for drugs,” he said in a statement today.

During the operation, police also seized a knife believed to have been used in the incident, along with two cars, two mobile phones, a set of clothing and a pair of slippers, among other things.

He said police will apply for a remand order at Kota Bharu Court, while the investigation continues to finalise the case papers.

“The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. If convicted, offenders face the death penalty or 30 to 40 years in jail plus at least 12 strokes of the cane,” he said.

Regarding the discovery of the victim’s body, Mohd Yusoff said his team received information about it at 12.35 am on May 1.

He said the victim was confirmed dead at the scene, with the body later sent to the Forensic Department at Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital here for further processing.

“The post-mortem at 9.30 am yesterday confirmed the victim died from multiple stab wounds to the chest,” he said. — Bernama

KOTA BHARU, May 2 — The family of a 19-year-old college student found with 61 stab wounds in Kampung Simah, Ketereh, yesterday morning is struggling to come to terms with her loss after sending her back to campus last week.

The victim’s brother, Mohd Faris Zulkifly, 21, said the family had travelled to Kelantan on Saturday to send his sister, Nurfisya Zulkifly, 19, for the new semester.

“We received a call from the police at 12.30 pm informing us that she had passed away, but we could not bear to hear further details at that moment and ended the call.

“Without delay, we left Kuala Kangsar, Perak, for Kelantan,” he told reporters at the Forensic Unit of Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II (HRPZ II) last night.

He said the family was deeply saddened as they had only just sent her off last week, but now had to make arrangements for her funeral.

Mohd Faris said the family was initially unaware of the cause of death and only learned that the victim had been stabbed after reading news reports while passing through Jeli this evening.

“Upon learning what had actually happened, our parents could not stop crying as they were shocked.

“She did not show any unusual behaviour before the incident, but during her recent visit home, she expressed a desire to enjoy various favourite foods, including ayam penyet,” he said.

Yesterday, Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said the victim was from Perak and the case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code. — Bernama

KOTA BHARU, May 2 — Two suspects have been arrested to assist in investigations into the discovery of the body of a 19-year-old woman with 61 stab wounds near a paddy field in Kampung Simah, Ketereh, here, yesterday.

Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat, when contacted last night, confirmed the arrest.

“Police have identified the main suspects,” he said briefly.

Bernama was informed that further details on the arrests would be released soon.

He was reported to have said in a statement that initial investigations found the victim was believed to have been killed elsewhere before her body was dumped at the location, and the case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code. — Bernama

KOTA BHARU, May 2 — Police have confirmed that the body of a 19-year-old woman found with 61 stab wounds near a padi field in Kampung Simah, Ketereh, early yesterday morning, is that of a college student.

Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said the victim was a semester three student at a local college.

Speaking to Bernama last night, he said police are actively tracking down suspects involved in the case.

He added that the motive of the murder is still under investigation. — Bernama

KOTA BHARU, May 2 — In this age of AI and information technology, the phenomenon of keeping and competing exotic insect known as ‘deer grasshoppers’ is still a seasonal hobby here and has the potential to be promoted as the identity and sustainable cultural heritage of the state of Kelantan.

Head of the Department of Veterinary Preclinical Science Studies, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), Dr Goh Soon Heng said the trend is increasingly gaining ground among the younger generation as it is an affordable hobby, apart from playing an important role in strengthening local community ties.

“Originally, these grasshoppers were commonly found in rural areas and people used to enjoy listening to their sounds. From just a hobby of collecting, it has now evolved into a competition that aims to unite the grasshopper fan community.

“The participation of young people is very important because they are the ones who will ensure that this heritage continues to grow and is organised every year,” he told Bernama recently.

Commenting on the competition format, Goh explained that the winner is not judged at all based on the physical size of the grasshopper, but rather the focus is on the uniqueness and frequency of the hissing sound produced.

“This competition is very unique because it is usually held at night with the lights turned off. Participants cannot see the grasshoppers, they can only hear their sounds.

“The assessment is divided into two main categories, namely the melodiousness of the tone and the frequency of the sound. The judges will count how many hissing sounds the grasshopper can produce in a period of 30 seconds,” he explained.

Touching on the scientific aspect, Goh shared that adult locusts can grow up to eight centimetres and have an average lifespan of around 11 to 12 months.

For the captive breeding process, it requires the provision of a conducive small ecosystem, including a variety of leaf food sources and a medium such as soil or sticks for the female grasshoppers to lay eggs.

He also explained the important role of this endemic insect in the ecosystem chain, where it acts as a controller of the population of wild plants and harmful weeds in the bush area, in addition to being a food source for birds and other insectivorous animals.

“Conflict will only arise when their original habitat is destroyed. Without a natural food source, these locusts will move to vegetable farms and risk becoming pests,” he said.

Meanwhile, he also corrected the public’s misunderstanding about the practice of eating grasshoppers.

According to him, the species that is usually fried and eaten by villagers is the ‘turmeric grasshopper’ found in rice fields, not deer grasshopper.

Although this activity is seen to be increasingly popular, Goh advised the community not to overexploit the capture of deer grasshoppers in their native habitat to avoid disruption to the ecosystem chain.

“Currently, commercial demand (sales) is not that high because the community prefers to catch them themselves. However, if the wild population starts to decrease one day, the demand to buy them will definitely increase.

“Therefore, studies must always be conducted to understand the impact of this animal. We need to know how fast it reproduces so that we can set a safe catch frequency limit,” he said.

Looking at the projections for the next five to 10 years, Goh is confident that deer grasshopper conservation can survive as a healthy cultural activity, in addition to fostering community awareness to better appreciate the sounds of nature. — Bernama

KOTA BHARU, May 1 — A woman’s body with 61 stab wounds was found in a paddy field in Kampung Simah, Ketereh, early this morning.

Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said police received a call from the public regarding the discovery of the body at about 12.30 am.

He said the case has been classified as murder and is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

“An initial examination by the police forensic team found a total of 61 stab wounds on the victim’s body, from the face down to the legs.

“Most of the injuries were concentrated on the right side of the victim’s body. Preliminary investigations suggest that the victim was believed to have been killed at another location before the body was dumped in the area,” he said in a statement today.

Mohd Yusoff said the crime scene was in a dark paddy field with no street lighting, located about 47 metres from the nearest residence.

Following the discovery, the K9 Unit was deployed to conduct detection operations within a radius of about 30 metres around the area.

Commenting on the victim’s condition, he said no identification documents were found.

However, the victim was wearing a necklace bearing the inscription ‘SYAA’, along with a bracelet on the left wrist and a ring on the middle finger of the right hand.

He said the victim was clad in a black long-sleeved top and black trousers. Several other items were also found at the scene, including a pair of glasses and a light purple shawl.

“The victim’s body was taken to the Forensic Department of Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital for a post-mortem.

“However, the victim’s identity was later established through fingerprint verification conducted by the National Registration Department,” he said, urging those with information on the incident to contact investigating officer ASP Ganesan at 012-5691204. — Bernama