She is alleged to have slit the baby’s throat with a knife while he was asleep.

In the incident at Mantanani Island, a resort island about an hour’s boat ride from Kota Belud, near here, the 30-year-old woman also seriously injured her three other children, aged between five and seven, by slitting their throats as well.

The woman and her husband are workers at the island.

The woman also attempted to take her own life by cutting her throat.

However, she was stopped in time by her husband, a 54-year-old Indonesian.

The woman, together with her injured children, comprising two girls and a boy, were rushed to the Kota Belud Hospital where they were reported to be in stable condition.

Sabah police chief Omar Mammah confirmed the incident.

According to a police source, the husband had sought the help of the 16th Battalion General Operations Force personnel patrolling the island at 1.40pm.

The man, who was covered in blood, pleaded with the policemen to come with him, saying his four children had been hurt at the workers’ quarters where they stayed.

“They found the children lying in pools of blood,” the source said, adding the mother also had wounds on her throat.