JOHOR BARU, Dec 29 — A 45-year-old housewife was found dead from hanging herself, after allegedly killing her daughter, at a house in Taman Indah Heights 2 here last night.

J. Sumathi, who was suffering from Stage IV cancer, was believed to have strangled her 10-year-old daughter K. Arthhinee to death during the incident.

Johor Baru North deputy police chief Superintendent Beh Eng Lai said the police district control centre received a distress call from the victim’s husband at 9.59pm.

"The ambulance personnel from Sultanah Aminah Hospital at the location estimated that the victims had died about three hours earlier before the discovery was made.

"Strangulation marks were seen on the daughter’s neck and there was no forced entry to the house,” he said yesterday.

Checks by police revealed there were no closed-circuit television cameras at the scene and no independent witnesses who saw the incident. Police have also ruled out foul play.

Based on initial investigations, Beh said the victim’s 45-year-old husband was out working while the victim’s other two children, aged 16 and 19, were not at home as they were out shopping in Tampoi.

He said the victim’s husband and two children arrived home shocked to find Sumathi hanging from the ceiling in the gym room while the body of Arthhinee was found lying in a room upstairs.

The remains of both victims have been sent to the hospital for a post-mortem.

The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder and is also classified as sudden death.