Foul smell leads police to bound body of missing woman

A foul odor emanating from a wooden house in Sandakan prompted police to discover the decomposed remains of a 62-year-old woman inside a toilet. The victim's hands were tightly bound behind her back, and her head was covered with cloth. On the evening of August 24, 2026, Sandakan district police chief Assistant Commissioner George Abd Rakman announced that authorities had received reports of the unpleasant smell from the community and promptly inspected the property located at Tanah Merah, Jalan Leila.

Upon inspection, officers found the victim's body in the toilet. Initial assessments suggested that the individual had been deceased for multiple days due to the decomposition state of the body. George stated that the team managed to apprehend ten individuals within a 24-hour period, with two of them identified as the key suspects. He explained that the motive for the crime appeared to be a wage dispute and dissatisfaction regarding the victim's request for an increase in the monthly rent.

All ten suspects were related to one another, and police seized a wooden stick believed to have been utilized in the incident, along with personal belongings belonging to the victim that allegedly were taken. The case has been opened under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, and an investigation paper has been filed.