KOTA KINABALU: Unhappy with his former fiance for breaking off their engagement is believed to be the motive for a man to stab a 21-year-old shop assistant who succumbed to her injuries, yesterday.
The woman was found lying on the floor with stab wounds on her body at a shopping centre in Jalan Haji Saman here in the 12pm murder.
Kota Kinabalu district deputy police chief Superintendent Kalsom Idris said the victim had called off the engagement two days ago for personal reasons.
The suspect was alleged to have harassed the victim, even looking for her at her workplace as he was upset with the break-off.
"The victim is a local woman who worked at an ice-cream outlet. Before the attack, the victim was alone when the suspect, whom she had known for about a year, confronted her, trying to persuade her to take him back. But the woman refused.
"The suspect reacted by approaching the victim and stabbing her several times until she collapsed on the floor near a cash register," she said when contacted, today..
Kalsom said the victim shouted for help, and security personnel who heard her immediately rushed to the shop.
"The security personnel saw the victim on the floor, and the suspect stood beside her holding a bloodied item," she said, adding that police was called in, and the suspect was arrested at the incident scene.
When the paramedic arrived, she said, they immediately performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on her. Still, she died, and her death was declared at 1pm.
"We also recovered a knife believed to be used to stab the victim. The victim's body was taken to the Queen Elizabeth I Hospital for post-mortem," she said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.