KOTA KINABALU—A 31-year-old man was detained by police after villagers apprehended him on suspicion of fatally stabbing his mother in Tambunan.

The incident came to light on Friday afternoon when villagers discovered the 56-year-old woman with stab wounds at a rented residence in Kampung Katagayan around 2 p.m. They promptly alerted the authorities, who launched a manhunt for her son, identified as the main suspect.

Authorities said the suspect was located in a hut in the nearby Kampung Sukung after villagers joined the search and subsequently brought him to the local police station. Investigators from the Keningau criminal investigation unit took over the case, while additional teams secured the crime scene and collected items believed to be linked to the incident.

The victim’s body was sent for a post-mortem examination to establish the precise cause of death. The police confirmed that the case is being treated as a murder investigation, with inquiries ongoing to determine both the motive behind the attack and the sequence of events leading up to it.