KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — Former Malaysian attaché Mohammad Rizalman Ismail had believed that a woman he once helped was possessed by “bad spirits”, the Wellington High Court in New Zealand heard today.
New Zealand news website the New Zealand Herald reported that defence lawyer Dr Donald Stevens said his client, who pleaded guilty last month to indecently assaulting New Zealander Tania Billlingsley, had assisted another woman before the incident to carry some heavy objects into her house, but later became convinced that she was possessed and wanted to inform the police.
Rizalman’s wife was also worried that her husband was suicidal, Stevens reportedly said.
“She describes hiding the knives in the house,” Stevens was quoted saying.
“So the evidence [shows] Mr Rizalman’s behaviour continued to deteriorate in the period leading up to the 9th of May. He said bad forces were affecting his mind.
“In his abnormal state of mind, he failed to appreciate that it was inappropriate to enter a strange woman’s bedroom not with trousers or [underpants] on,” the defence lawyer added.
The lawyer also said according to Rizalman’s wife, Rizalman suffered from “hallucinations”, memory loss and heart palpitations when he took up his post at the Malaysian embassy in Wellington.
The Wellington High Court heard earlier that Rizalman was naked waist-down when he entered Billingsley’s home and bedroom on May 9 last year, after which they had a tussle.
Stevens reportedly said today there was little doubt that Rizalman was in an “abnormal” mental state, noting that a doctor had earlier found that the former Malaysian attaché’s state of mind was likely due to stress, anxiety, “potentially depression” and possible drug misuse.
The trial has also heard that Rizalman had defecated outside his victim’s house and the 39-year-old junior envoy's testimony that according to Malaysian custom, if a woman smiled at a man, it was considered an invitation to follow her.
