How could he shoot my daughter?

The Malay Mail

BEYOND HEARTLESS: Prema resting after surgery to remove the bullets lodged in her body. Pic: SALHANI IBRAHIM

KUALA LUMPUR: “I never thought it would end like this. That man was supposed to become my son-in-law and he betrayed me,” lamented A. Ganason, 51, when recounting how his daughter had been shot by her fiance on Tuesday night at their Kampung Kerinchi low-cost flats in Pantai Dalam.

“How could he, a police officer, shoot my daughter and his future wife?”

Ganason said the fiance, 31, had sent an SMS to his daughter, Prema, earlier on Tuesday to tell her he was coming over to the house.

“He arrived at 9pm and sat with my daughter, Prema, 24, in the living room to talk. My wife and I went to the kitchen to give them privacy.”

About 9.45pm, the discussion became heated and Ganason heard the man push Prema into her room and lock the door. “Not long after, I heard three gunshots coming from the room.”

The blasts woke his son, Devandran, 25, who was sleeping in his room. He rushed out and with Ganason, forced Prema’s room door open.

Once inside, they found her covered with blood on her right arm, hands and chest. The fiance then fired a shot into the ceiling. The bullet ricocheted and grazed the top of Devandran’s head.

But the drama was far from over.

While Ganason was torn between whom to attend to first — his bleeding daughter or injured son — the fiance pulled a bottle from his pants pocket.

“Me and my son’s first thoughts about the bottle was that it could be poison. So both of us charged at him,” Ganason said, adding the man went limp after a struggle.

It was later revealed the bottle contained weedkiller. Neighbours, who were alerted by the commotion, had called the police.

The suspect was arrested while Prema and Devandran were rushed to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).

Prema, a medical assistant at a dental clinic in the city, had to undergo immediate surgery to remove the slugs in her body. She is still warded at UMMC.

Her brother was given outpatient treatment.

Ganason said the couple had been seeing each other for four years and that he had come to embrace the suspect as part of the family, especially after their recent engagement.

He said the relationship soured in recent weeks and Ganason suspected jealousy could have been involved but declined to elaborate as police have yet to conclude their investigations.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur police chief, DCP Datuk Muhammad Sabtu Osman said the suspect was a police constable attached with the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.

“He has worked for the force for eight years and was assigned duties as a driver for a Crime Investigation Department officer.”

Asked why the suspect had a revolver with him, Sabtu said he was actually on duty that night. He is now remanded at the Brickfields district police headquarters and being investigated under Sections 307 and 309 of the Penal Code for attempted murder and attempted suicide.