Jakarta – Police in Kudus, East Java, have arrested a 48-year-old man identified only as EG for allegedly killing his daughter after he thought that he had contracted COVID-19.
Authorities named EG a suspect after they obtained his psychological evaluation results.
"The psychological evaluation revealed that the perpetrator is good health and has no mental illness. We named him a suspect last week," Kudus Police Criminal Investigation Department head Sr. Adj. Comr. Agustinus David said on Tuesday.
Agustinus said the suspect told investigators that he had initially planned to kill himself after he thought he had contracted COVID-19 on Oct. 8.
"When he was about to commit suicide, he saw his daughter watching TV and suddenly decided to kill her too," he said.
According to the police, EG was sure that his daughter, who had asthma, had also contracted the respiratory disease.
EG allegedly strangled his daughter and tried to commit suicide. Shortly after, their neighbors found EG lying on the floor with wounds to his left wrist while his daughter was found sitting on a chair in front of the TV with a sarong around her neck.
Both EG and his daughter were still alive at that time, but the daughter was dead on arrival at the local children's hospital.
Agustinus said EG was currently being detained in Kudus Police station while waiting for authorities to complete his case dossier.
EG has been charged under Article 338 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. (nal)