GEORGE TOWN, Jan 12 — The suspect who stabbed his neighbour 10 times while robbing her in an elevator at the Taman Sri Damai flats in Jelutong last Wednesday is in police custody.

Northeast district police chief ACP Soffian Santong said the 26-year-old man was detained in the city centre yesterday.

He also tested positive for drugs and was found to have previous criminal and drug abuse records, Soffian said in a statement today. 

In the 11.16pm incident on Wednesday, the suspect was in the same elevator as the 20-year-old victim when he began stabbing her repeatedly before fleeing with her wallet and handphone.

The suspect had used a facemask during the incident, Soffian said, adding that family members later sent the victim, who is unemployed, to the Penang Hospital.

The suspect, who is a neighbour of the victim, has been placed under remand and the case is being investigated under section 394 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt while committing a robbery. — Bernama