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A SEPTUAGENARIAN housewife in Sibu suffered a devastating loss of RM317,000 in cash and valuables following an elaborate traditional healing deception orchestrated near the central market.
Sibu district police chief Assistant Commissioner Abang Zainal Abidin Abang Ahmad stated that the victim filed an official complaint regarding the ordeal, which unfolded on July 19.
The operation began when an unidentified female stranger approached the victim, speaking with a distinct accent, to inquire about the location of a traditional apothecary to treat an ailing relative.
Shortly thereafter, a second accomplice appeared and volunteered to guide them to an establishment purportedly owned by a family member.
The elderly woman was subsequently lured into a vehicle, where the culprits exploited facial reading claims to convince her that her son faced an imminent and fatal vehicular collision.
Under immense psychological distress, the victim complied with instructions to surrender her monetary savings and jewellery for a purported cleansing ceremony designed to avert the tragedy.
Authorities are pursuing the investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code pertaining to offences of cheating.
Assistant Commissioner Abang Zainal Abidin issued a stern public advisory urging citizens to exercise extreme vigilance against strangers peddling superstitious rituals or supernatural remedies that demand the handover of portable wealth, while warning against predatory tactics engineered to induce panic through manufactured threats. - August 24, 2026
