The 29-year-old man, who broke into the victim’s house, is believed to have murdered the victim after he raped and sodomised her yesterday.
Seberang Perai Selatan district police chief Lee Chong Chern said police were alerted to the discovery of the body of the 40-year-old woman hidden under the bed of her two-storey terrace house at about 7.20pm.
He said a friend of the victim went to the house to check on her and as she arrived, she saw a man leaving on a motorcycle.
“She became suspicious and contacted the victim’s sister to inform her of the matter,” he said today.
“The victim’s sister then called her friend and asked him to check her sister’s house. The man then contacted police. They went inside the house together and found it to be in a mess,” he added.
He said further inspection found the victim’s body under the bed in a room on the ground floor, adding that the body was then sent to Seberang Jaya Hospital for a post-mortem.
Lee said initial investigations revealed that one of the victim’s neighbours saw an unknown man leaving the victim’s house on a motorcycle at 4.30pm yesterday.
Based on the information, he said police launched an operation to track down the suspect, adding that the suspect was arrested last night in the Changkat Sungai Jawi area here.
Upon questioning, the suspect admitted that he broke into the victim’s house at about 3am yesterday after taking drugs with his friend in Sungai Bakap.
“The man then borrowed his friend’s motorcycle to go to the Taman Seruling Emas area. He then broke into the victim’s house by climbing the back wall and went into the bedroom where the victim was sleeping,” Lee said, adding that the suspect then raped and sodomised her.
The victim put up a fight and shouted for help during the attack. The suspect then stuffed the victim’s underwear in her mouth but she continued to fight with him, he added.
“The suspect then covered her mouth with his hands and she stopped moving after some time,” Lee said, adding that the man then hid her body under the bed and took off with her money, mobile phone and jewellery.
He said the suspect, who has previous records for criminal and drug offences, has been remanded for further investigation.
The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code.