Eight months on, police confirm headless body is missing teacher

• UPDATED 4.47PM | Added the victim’s husband's clarification over the suspect’s relationship with the victim.

Police today confirmed that the body found without the head, lower legs and hands, in a drain in Malacca on Dec 31 last year is the missing teacher, Istiqomah Ahmad Rozi, 33.

The body matched a DNA sample provided by her mother on Aug 2, Alor Gajah district police chief Ashari Abu Samah told reporters today as reported by Sinar Harian.

The Sekolah Kota Masai 3, Pasir Gudang teacher was reported missing in Johor on Dec 27 after not returning home from work.

The remand of a 37-year-old man, believed to be her ex-boyfriend, has been extended for seven days, Sinar Harian reported.

He was remanded to assist in the investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which deals with murder.

The man and his wife, aged 36, were first in Chemor, Perak and remanded from Aug 6 to 12, but his wife was released on police bail today.

The deceased and the man were in a romantic relationship when they were in university, and were in touch over a foreign exchange investment, Ashari said.

He added that police found other body parts, including part of a head and a finger bone about 5-6km from where the body was found.

Widower: Killer should be hanged

Istiqomah’s body was found in a rubbish bin thrown into a drain in Kampung Tanjung Rimau, Pulau Sebang.

The mother of three was found naked except for a red cloth wrapping. Her head was cut off, while her hands and lower legs were lobbed off at the wrists and knees.

Her car with the keys inside was found near Kota Masai Lotus’s at about 2pm on the day she was reported missing.

The deceased's widower condemned the murder as inhumane and said the perpetrator should be sentenced to death.

"I want justice for my wife and if possible, her killer should be hanged. She did not deserve this... she was a loyal wife who loved her children very much.

"She was a good wife. She always consulted me before doing anything. I want justice for her, what happened to her was so cruel," Bernama reported him as telling reporters at his home in Taman Kota Masai, Johor Bahru today.

'Just business partners'

He also refuted the police's statement that the suspect was Istiqomah’s ex-boyfriend and that the duo were just business partners.

He said the investigating officer confirmed to him that the duo had only met for business purposes, Sinar Harian reported.

"Maybe he wanted my wife's gold bracelet but could not get it, leading to a struggle. There were marks on my wife's arm," he said.

He said their two daughters and one son, aged four to nine, have been told about what had happened to their mother.

Her body will be buried in her hometown in Kampung Kubang Badak, Pasir Mas, Kelantan.

LETTER | Missing persons crisis: Unsolved cases and govt inaction

Police probing if suspect held in kidnapping case a paedophile

Teen reported missing in Batang Kali found safe

Man nabbed for allegedly kidnapping girl, 8, near Sg Buloh

LETTER | Preventing young children from going missing