The notorious Marsiling estate played host to another gruesome, violent event yesterday afternoon when a resident ran amok with his machete before ending up dead in his burning flat.
According to various reports, the episode occurred in the late afternoon close to 5pm at Block 4 Marsiling Road, where the assailant lived. Armed with a parang, he approached a unit on the third floor and started attacking 62-year-old Abdul Majid Maarof, slashing him several times. After Abdul's wife pushed the attacker away, he turned his attention on her but the chopper had already broke in half. As he took out another knife from his pocket, Abdul fled away while his wife managed to fend the assailant and took off with her grandson.
60-year-old Mei Che, a volunteer and resident at the block, then tried to intervene but the man slashed her face for her troubles. By then, other residents were alerted to the attack and rushed to help but the man had assailant had already ran off.
A while later, the attacker's unit on the eighth storey was seen up in flames. Though the cause of the fire is still under investigation, residents believed that he himself started the fire after fleeing to his unit following the rampage. After personnel from the Singapore Civil Defence Force extinguished the fire at the living room, they found the man lying motionless near the toilet. He was pronounced dead at 5.59pm.
It was a violent end to a troubled life for the assailant, who residents have said to be an aggressive, volatile man — someone who they try to avoid at all costs. Speaking to The New Paper, residents only knew him by his moniker "Gemuk" (fat in Bahasa Melayu) because of his bulky build, and that he was a rag-and-bone man who sold his wares at the void deck. He was known to be an especially impolite neighbour, frequently acting aggressively towards people and used loud abusive language for more than 10 years in residence. Resident-volunteer William Teo mentioned that Gemuk had been involved in a couple of altercations in the past few months around the neighbourhood.
Both injured victims of his attack have been conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Photo: Dina Jainah bte Awan via @TODAYonline
The notorious Marsiling estate played host to another gruesome, violent event yesterday afternoon when a resident ran amok with his machete before ending up dead in his burning flat.
According to various reports, the episode occurred in the late afternoon close to 5pm at Block 4 Marsiling Road, where the assailant lived. Armed with a parang, he approached a unit on the third floor and started attacking 62-year-old Abdul Majid Maarof, slashing him several times. After Abdul's wife pushed the attacker away, he turned his attention on her but the chopper had already broke in half. As he took out another knife from his pocket, Abdul fled away while his wife managed to fend the assailant and took off with her grandson.
60-year-old Mei Che, a volunteer and resident at the block, then tried to intervene but the man slashed her face for her troubles. By then, other residents were alerted to the attack and rushed to help but the man had assailant had already ran off.
A while later, the attacker's unit on the eighth storey was seen up in flames. Though the cause of the fire is still under investigation, residents believed that he himself started the fire after fleeing to his unit following the rampage. After personnel from the Singapore Civil Defence Force extinguished the fire at the living room, they found the man lying motionless near the toilet. He was pronounced dead at 5.59pm.
It was a violent end to a troubled life for the assailant, who residents have said to be an aggressive, volatile man — someone who they try to avoid at all costs. Speaking to The New Paper, residents only knew him by his moniker "Gemuk" (fat in Bahasa Melayu) because of his bulky build, and that he was a rag-and-bone man who sold his wares at the void deck. He was known to be an especially impolite neighbour, frequently acting aggressively towards people and used loud abusive language for more than 10 years in residence. Resident-volunteer William Teo mentioned that Gemuk had been involved in a couple of altercations in the past few months around the neighbourhood.
Both injured victims of his attack have been conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Photo: Dina Jainah bte Awan via @TODAYonline