GEORGE TOWN: A woman with a history of mental illness set fire to herself in her home at the State Government Quarters, Jalan Ayer Itam here, yesterday.
The 30-year-old suffered 40 per cent burns in the 11.30am incident.
Prior to burning herself, the woman had slashed parts of her body with a knife.
It is learnt that the woman’s 32-year-old brother had visited the flat, where their mother and younger brother also live, to find her covered in her own blood.
She had apparently slashed her chest and thighs with a knife.
Other members of the household were away at the time.
The brother immediately contacted the police and Fire and Rescue Department, and as they waited for an ambulance to arrive, the woman ran outside of their unit, doused herself in petrol and set herself alight.
“Two police officers who had just arrived and the brother immediately went to the woman’s aid. They managed to extinguish the fire before it consumed her entire body,” said northeast police chief Assistant Commissioner Che Zaimani Che Awang.
He said the woman was rushed to hospital, where it was discovered that she had received treatment for mental instability just last week.
