Main suspect in missing teacher’s gruesome murder is former college mate

ALOR GAJAH: A 37-year-old ex-teacher is now the main suspect in the gruesome murder of Johor school teacher Istiqomah Ahmad Rozi, says Melaka police.

Alor Gajah OCPD Supt Ashari Abu Samah said both the suspect and the victim have known each other since they were in the teacher’s training college.

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“The victim is in her 30s and was first reported missing on Dec 27 last year,” he said on Monday(Aug 12).

Supt Ashari said preliminary investigations showed that the suspect and victim had business dealings.

“However, a probe is ongoing to discover the actual motive behind the alleged murder,” he said.

On Monday (Aug 12), the suspect had his remand extended by another seven days at the Alor Gajah Magistrate Court.

The suspect is now being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for the alleged murder of the teacher from SK Kota Masai 3, Pasir Gudang, Johor.

The dismembered body of the victim was discovered in a rubbish bin along the Alor Gajah-Tampin Road, near Kampung Rimau, Pulau Sebang here on Dec 31, 2023.

The victim is a mother of three children, aged four to nine years old.

A team of police officers from the Johor and Melaka police contingents managed to track down two suspects, who are husband and wife, before detaining them in Chemor, Perak on Aug 4.

However, the 36-year-old female suspect was released on police bail on Monday.

One of the suspects then led to the discovery of other parts of the victim’s body, about 6km from the site where the body was initially found.

On Jan 6, media here reported that the victim was murdered, with her head, arms, and legs chopped off before her dismembered body parts were stuffed into a bin and dumped in a drain by the side of the road.

The body parts were found incomplete and did not have any identifications at the scene of discovery.

“Police only found the victim’s head, both arms and legs from knees down believed to have been severed, along with a piece of red cloth under the body on that day,” Supt Ashari said.

The body was in a decomposed state when it was discovered, suggesting that the victim had been dead for several days before she was discovered.