IPOH, Feb 12 — In her eyes, he was just a young boy whose family had to struggle to put food on the table for him and his five siblings.

She thought she would help the teenager by asking him to follow her on her home-cleaning rounds and pay him money for helping her out.

Izzah Abdullah, 52, even allowed the boy, who lived just a few houses down the road, into her house and offered him food and drinks.

For all the help and comfort she provided him, one would think the boy would repay her goodwill in kind.

That was not the case. 

For because of his actions, Izzah is dead.

Yesterday, the boy entered her house in Taman Tanjung Emas, Tanjung Rambutan, unannounced with three other teenage friends and allegedly slit her throat before escaping with some cash.

Police believe she may have been suffocated before her throat was slit.

The incident was believed to have happened at about 2am.

The four teenagers, aged between 15 and 19, allegedly entered Izzah’s house through the back door and grabbed a knife from the kitchen.

What transpired after that is still under investigation. What was sure is that robbery and murder had taken place.

It was Izzah’s son, Zulfadhli Salehuddin, 27, who found his mother in the gruesome condition when he returned home at about 3am yesterday.

Almost every night, he would leave the house at 8.30pm to go to Silibin to help his friend sell satay.

“As usual, my friend sent me back home at about 3am. I was at the front door when I heard my mother’s alarm clock ringing. It was normal of her to set her alarm every hour until I returned home,” said the state Health Department administrative assistant. 

“When the alarm rings she would snooze it for the next hour. This time, however, the alarm kept ringing. I entered my mother’s room to shut off the alarm. She was lying in bed with her face down but her head was covered with a pillow. She did not move at all when I called her. 

“When I removed the pillow I was shocked to see blood on the mattress under her head. I screamed and ran out of the house.”

Zulfadhli said he ran to his friend who was still parked outside the house and told him that his mother had been killed. 

While he waited outside of the house, his friend drove around the neighbourhood and chanced upon a group of youths at a field near his house. 

“My friend asked them if they had seen anyone behaving suspiciously around my house. They told him that they saw four boys running away at about 2am as though they were being chased by someone,” he said.

“We then lodged a police report. I was shocked to learn that among the suspects arrested was the boy whom my late mother had helped. Why did he do that?”

Zulfadhli said his father, Salehuddin Hassan, 55. worked as highway patrol officer after he was transferred to Slim River, adding that only he and his mother lived at the house.

When asked how he supposed the suspects could have entered the house, he said his mother would lock the back door but would normally leave the key in the key hole. 

Zulfadhli, the couple’s only child, said: “I suspect the boys must have used a hook to pull the key out through a grille on the side wall of the kitchen.

“Perhaps, the suspect (referring to the one his mother had helped) knew that my mother would leave the key in the key hole.”

According to a neighbour, who declined to be named, the boy whom Izzah had helped was seen loitering with a group of teenagers at the field almost every night.

“I think he is a good boy but he just got mixed up with bad company. In fact, among us, we would provide the boy with food and drinks because we know his family is poor.”

Another neighbour, Rozali Zaman, 56, a retiree, said it was only last week that some of the neighbours had gathered at Izzah’s home to discuss the setting up of a Rukun Tetangga unit at the housing area.

He said there had been concerns about the increasing number of people loitering around the mixed-neighbourhood area, adding that Izzah was also concerned over possible criminal activities that might occur at the neighbourhood. 

Perak police chief Datuk Osman Salleh said the four teenagers were arrested between 6.30am and 8am in Tanjung Rambutan.

They are expected to be remanded today.