Malaysian princess Tengku Puteri Kamariah, sister of Sultan Ahmad Shah, who controls the eastern state of Pahang, was stabbed to death on Monday afternoon by her own son while attempting to prevent him from attacking his father, CNN reports.

The murder took place at the princess's home in Pekan town, Pahang, according to The Malay Mail and The New Straits Times. Both newspapers recalled that the princess's son, Prince Tunku Rizal Shahzan, aged 21, attacked his 74 year old father with a screwdriver, and at that point, Kamariah tried to stop him and got killed in the subsequent fight, being stabbed in the back.

According to The Star, the young man's father Tunku Ismail Tunku Sulaiman had to be rushed to the intensive care unit of the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan, since he displayed wounds to his stomach. The princess's son died later on due to what appeared as a drug overdose, which in turn might offer potential explanations for his strange fit of rage. Hospital officials stated that the man's wheelchair-bound father was in stable condition. As far as Rizal was concerned, rumors were that he was under the influence of "some kind of designer drugs", more precisely syabu, a local version of crystal methamphetamine.

Although royal representatives did not comment upon the latest tragic developments in the Malay royal family and did neither confirm or infirm the reports, they did acknowledge that surviving family members took part in a series of burials on Tuesday. No comments could be obtained from the Pahang state police either, since chief police officer Razak Buhary declined any statement, according to his secretary.

Malaysia does not have one royal family, but nine, since nine of Malaysia's 13 states are still ruled by a sultan or raja, yet only for ceremonial purposes only. The nine kings take turns in governing Malaysia for five-year terms. Malaysian royal families have been the subject of ongoing controversies that included the murder of the wife of one of the sultans by alleged black magic supporters and the arrest of another royal figure who started a fight during the festivities of a wedding, injuring several people.

Photo Credits: The Star