TAWAU, April 15 — Police arrested an Indonesian man in Kampung Andung in Jalan Kabogan, Semporna today, after he was believed to have stepped on and threatened to kill his two children in an incident in Ulu Balung near here.
Tawau police chief ACP Peter Umbuas said the man was arrested at 7 am today, and also seized was a machete measuring 31cm believed to have been used by the suspect to threaten his children.
“The suspect, in his 20s, has been remanded for 14 days starting today to assist in the investigation while the two children, aged three and five, were referred to the Tawau General Hospital for medical examination and treatment,” he told a press conference, here, today.
Peter said police detained the suspect after receiving a public complaint yesterday regarding a video of the abuse of two children, a boy and girl, which went viral on social media.
“The complainant who works at Ladang Giram Ulu Balung Division claimed to have seen two videos of the abuse lasting 26 seconds and 16 seconds respectively.
“Through the video recording, the suspect, who is also the biological father of the victims, was accused of stepping several times on the children’s legs, stomach and neck,” he said and added that the dates and times of the incident were still under investigation by the police.
Peter also said that it was suspected that the motive for the incident stemmed from marital problems with his 19-year-old wife. — Bernama
