SERIAN: An air rifle made using information on YouTube went off and injured a senior citizen here last Monday.
According to Serian District Police chief DSP Aswandy Anis, the accident happened about 11.30am.
He said a woman complainant heard a gunshot coming from the backyard of her house.
She went to see what it was and saw that her 87-year-old mother had fainted after a homemade air rifle held by her 16-year old son went off.
“Our initial investigation found that the suspect accidentally shot his grandmother while handling the rifle,” he said.
According to Aswandy, the elderly woman’s face (around the right eyebrow) was injured. She was quickly taken to Sarawak General Hospital.
“Police have arrested the suspect and his sibling who is the owner of the weapon,” said Aswandy in a statement yesterday.
The case is being investigated under Section 37 of the Arms Act 1960 that states: Any person who discharges an arm and injures any person thereby, whether fatally or not, shall, unless he satisfies the court that he had some lawful justification or excuse for causing such injury or that he took all reasonable precautions to ensure that no person was injured by such discharge, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit or to both.
Over in Bau, in an unrelated incident, a man suffered injuries to his body and lost two fingers after being attacked with a machete on Monday morning.
Bau District Police Chief DSP Poge Nyaon said the attack took place at Kampung Bogag around 10am.
He said the suspect, in his 30s, barged into the 40-year-old victim’s house and attacked him.
“The victim’s friend who was present then, said the suspect shouted loudly and made slashing movements with his machete when he entered the house.
“The victim had injuries to both of his arms, head and chest. The severed fingers were those of his right hand,” said Poge in a statement.
The victim was rushed to Bau Hospital for immediate treatment.
It was unclear why the suspect became so violent.
Police are currently investigating the case under Section 326 of the Penal Code.
If convicted, the suspect can be jailed up to 20 years, fined and whipped.
