Malaysian princess murdered by own son

The horrific death of a Malaysian princess, stabbed to death by her own son as she tried to stop him attacking his father, has put the country's troubled royal family in the spotlight.

Tengku, or Princess, Puteri Kamariah, the sister of the Sultan of Pahang, was killed trying to protect her wheelchair-bound husband on Monday, it emerged yesterday.

She tried to intervene as her 21-year-old son, Tunku, or Prince, Rizal Shazan, rushed at his father with a screwdriver. In the ensuing struggle, Tunku Rizal grabbed a hunting knife and stabbed his mother in the back.

The 21-year-old died later the same day of a drug overdose.

Police said they suspected Tunku Rizal was under the influence of 'some kind of designer drugs' at the time of the attack. According to reports from Malaysia, it was syabu, a local version of crystal meth.

The case will provoke comparisons with the massacre of almost the entire royal family of Nepal in 2001, which was blamed on the drunken crown prince.

But where the Nepalese case affected a royal family which still had considerable political power, Malaysia's royals are largely ceremonial figures - and the tragedy did not involve any of reigning sultans, but a junior branch.

It is the latest in a series of misfortunes and controversies that have dogged Malaysian royalty in recent years, including the murder of the wife of a sultan, allegedly by practitioners of black magic, and the arrest of a royal for starting a fight at a wedding reception that left several guests in hospital.

Malaysia does not have one royal family, but nine.

In British colonial times, much of what was then Malaya was ruled over by sultans and rajas who did as they were told by their British 'advisors'. After independence the power of the sultans was enshrined in the constitution.

Nine of modern Malaysia's 13 states are still ruled by their sultan or raja, but as a ceremonial figurehead. These nine take turns as overall King of Malaysia for strict five-year terms.

For decades after independence, the royals continued to be revered and were almost never criticised in public, but allowed to lead lives of extravagant luxury, immune from arrest or prosecution, and effectively above the law.

That all changed with a series of scandals in the early nineties, culminating when the Sultan of Johor seriously assaulted a hockey coach, an incident that resulted in the royals being stripped of their immunity.

The latest tragedy began when Tunku Rizal jumped from a first-floor window of the family house. A cousin of the dead princess who is also a neighbour, Tengku Ahmad Faisal, said he saw the young prince in a 'deranged' state, pacing about.

After a few minutes he returned to the house, where he headed for the kitchen and tried to attack his father, Tunku Ismail Tunku Suleiman.

Tengku Ahmad heard the screams of the family maid from outside and rushed in.

"I tried to help Tengku Puteri Kamariah, but she was already at her last breath," he told reporters.

"Her last words were for me to tell her son to repent and for him to have whatever he wants of the family's possessions."

But hours later Tunku Rizal was also dead.

The young man was known as a recluse, and reportedly had a history of drug abuse. Long-term use of crystal meth can cause psychosis.

His father was in a stable condition in hospital last night.

Local reports that he had tried to summon a bomoh, or witch doctor, hours before his attack by his son will cause speculation in Malaysia.

Three years ago, the country was gripped as two bomohs were among five men were jailed for murdering the wife of the Sultan of Perak, in a case that was full of allegations of black magic.

- INDEPENDENT