Two people are dead and one injured following a stabbing incident in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province earlier this month. The assailant has yet to be apprehended.
“In mid-July at 8pm the husband of the administrative division head was murdered while alone at home. The assailant tied him up and stabbed him multiple times,” a source in Hyesan told Daily NK on July 24.
“An elderly individual living in the house next door was also a victim. He likely heard the screams from next door and went to peer into the house’s window to see what was going on when he was caught and fatally stabbed by the same assailant.”
Another woman who witnessed the scene tried to flee but the assailant ran after her and stabbed her in the thigh, although she ultimately escaped.
“Luckily people heard her screams and crowded around to get her to the hospital. She’ll pull through because her injury is not life-threatening,” a separate source in Ryanggang Province reported.
The authorities are investigating the incident but have yet to uncover any leads in the case.
“They are still looking for additional witnesses to the crime. They moved on the investigation based on the female witnesses’ testimony but still don’t have any clues or leads,” he said.
“They [the authorities] keep saying with full confidence, ‘The murderer will be caught eventually.’ They’re pushing ahead on the notion that acrimonious relationships can lead to murder and are therefore probing anyone connected to the neighborhood chief and her husband.”
One of the roles of an administrative division head is to meet with residents and convey Party policies, thereby inciting disgruntlement and resentment from residents who are forced into such events with frequency.
According to a third source in Ryanggang Province, given that the neighborhood chief was known for inflating the taxes and bribes that residents had to pay her, animosity for her “likely applied to her immediate relatives too, and could explain her husband’s demise.”
Still, shock over the incident has rippled through the community among residents and cadres alike.
“Ordinary residents are really disturbed that the murderer went as far as to kill a witness. When some cadres heard the news though, they became grim and said ‘we’d better be careful, lest it happen to us,’” she added.
