SIBU: A Chinese national was arrested for deceiving a local woman to surrender her jewellery worth RM20,000 as prayer offering to prevent her eldest child from being killed in an accident.
Sibu police chief ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit said the victim together with her nephew got hold of the suspect last Sunday and handed her to the police after being cheated by her two months ago.
He said the case happened at about 9am on March 9 in Jalan Mahsuri when the elderly victim stumbled upon the 46-year-old suspect.
“The victim was brought into a car. While inside, the suspect told her that her eldest child will die at 5pm that day. The suspect said she was a medium and could perform a prayer to save her eldest child,” the local police chief added.
The victim subsequently surrendered her gold necklace, three gold bracelets, three gold rings and two gold earrings as prayer offerings to the suspect. The suspect then gave her a black plastic bag said to contain her jewellery.
“She was told to open the bag only after two months. But four days later, namely on March 13 she opened the plastic bag and was shocked to find two bottles of mineral water and a pack of salt,” he added.
It happened by chance that she saw the suspect at about 8am on May 12 at the same place.
With the help of her nephew, they made a citizen arrest on her and subsequently handed her to the police. Video clips of the arrest showing the suspect being surrounded by the public in a coffeeshop at Jalan Chiew Siik Hiong, opposite Jalan Mahsuri, had gone viral.
Stanley said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Meanwhile in an unrelated case, a 34-year-old female Chinese national who portrayed herself as a medium pleaded not guilty in the Kuching Magistrate’s Court after she was charged with cheating a local woman of RM180,000 as fee for prayer ritual to rid evil spirit from her house.
Magistrate Zubaidah Sharkawi denied bail for the accused, Li Yufen and ordered her to be remanded in Puncak Borneo prison while waiting for the case to be settled.
The case happened at about 11am on April 11 at MJC township, Kuching, where the accused deceived a 55-year-old woman into believing that her house was haunted.
