Seremban district police chief Mohd Said Ibrahim said the couple, both 29, was arrested following a report lodged on the purportedly live family suicide video.
The report was lodged following concerns that the couple’s actions could be emulated by others and be a bad influence on society besides containing an element of child abuse, he said in a statement here today.
He said the man was arrested at 10.20pm yesterday, and the wife at 3.15am today.
The video, lasting 16 minutes and three seconds, showed a man expressing his dissatisfaction with government leaders in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and how the situation is resulting in stress and depression among the people.
In showing how “depression and stress speak”, the man embarked on a “role play” of a family suicide by giving “poison” to his nine-month-old son and then to his wife before drinking it himself.
Said added that police were investigating the case under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code, Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act and Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.
Meanwhile, Bukit Aman criminal investigations department director Abd Jalil Hassan confirmed that his department had received the report on the video, that was uploaded on a Facebook account of one “Reuben George”, and was investigating the case.
“The video shows three members of a family (purportedly) drinking poison due to depression and the man also disputed efforts by the government in handling the Covid-19 pandemic and urged the government to take drastic action to address the issue which is causing stress and depression among the people, thus contributing to suicide cases in Malaysia.
“In the video, the suspect admitted that he was just doing a ‘role play’ and the liquid was not poison,” he said in a statement today.
Jalil said the police would complete the investigation paper as soon as possible and then refer it to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for further action.
He advised the public to use social media wisely and responsibly by not using the platform to cause panic and threaten harmony in the country.