A 35-year-old woman was stabbed in the right side of her neck while sitting in her Mazda 3 outside a restaurant on Jalan Titi Gajah, Kepala Batas, Kota Setar, on Sunday night, May 17, at about 9:19 pm [1, 2, 3, 4]. The woman was the driver and the 32-year-old suspect, known to her, was sitting in the front passenger seat when the incident occurred [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
After stabbing the woman, the suspect immediately fled the scene. Police arrested him at about 1:50 am on Monday, May 18, near a mosque in Taman Uda, roughly 6 kilometres from where the stabbing happened [2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 5, 6, 9]. Police remanded the suspect for seven days starting May 18 to assist investigation under Section 326 of the Penal Code [2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 5, 6].
The victim honked her car horn to attract attention after being stabbed [4, 10, 5]. The wound was deep, penetrating from the left to the right side of her neck [4]. She was rushed to Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar, where she underwent a 10-hour surgery from 9 am to 7 pm on May 18 [10, 7, 8, 11, 9]. She remains in stable condition in the intensive care unit [10, 9].
Police recovered the sharp weapon believed to have been used in the stabbing—a six-inch "Rambo" survival knife—on May 19. The knife was found about 200 metres from the crime scene in a paddy field, based on directions given by the suspect [7, 8, 11]. Kedah Police chief Datuk Adzli Abu Shah said, "We found the Rambo knife based on directions given by the suspect…this supports our investigation and the victim did not sustain any other injuries" [11].
Both the victim and suspect are real estate agents who had known each other for over a year [1, 4, 11]. The suspect has a prior criminal record for grievous hurt and tested negative for drugs [4]. Police suspect jealousy and unrequited love as motives behind the attack [4, 11]. Datuk Adzli said, "Jealousy and unrequited love are believed to have been the motives behind a man allegedly stabbing a woman in the neck while inside a car ... The stab wound is believed to have been inflicted from the left side of the neck and penetrated through to the right... The sharp weapon used could have been an ice pick, screwdriver, or Rambo knife" [4].
Sources differ on the suspect's personal status, with reports describing him as either a divorcee or widower [4, 11]. The victim is a single mother [4, 11].
The suspect remains in custody pending further investigations, with his remand set until May 24, 2026 [2, 3, 4].
