Three executed for “black magic ritual” murder, dismemberment of politician

November 2, 2001
Selangor, Malaysia
Mona Fandey (pictured), her husband Mohamed Nor Affandi Abdul Rahman, and their assistant Juraimi Hassan are hanged for the murder and dismemberment of politician Datuk Mazlan Idris

Fandey had been a pop singer before becoming a bomoh, a shaman or folk healer, sometimes erroneously translated as witch doctor. Idris had sought Fandey’s services in 1993, was convinced to drain a large sum of money from his account to pay for payment of services, and was attacked during what the media called a “black magic ritual” meant to make money literally rain from the sky. Idris was killed by decapitation with an axe, his body cut into several pieces, and the pieces buried and covered with a concrete cap.

Idris was reported missing on July 2, 1993 and 18 pieces of his body were found July 22 in a storehouse near Fandey’s home. Though 18 pieces were recovered, not every body part was found, leading to rumors of cannibalism. Fandey and her companions were arrested, tried, and convicted and were executed together on November 2, 2001. As her final statement, Fandey reportedly said “aku takkan mati” (“I will never die”), though some have disputed the veracity of this claim, stating all three of the condemned went to their deaths silently.

In 2018, a movie loosely based on incident entitled Datuk was released over a decade after it was produced. The delay was due to the controversial nature of the subject matter.