KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2: A Malaysian “witchdoctor” couple and their assistant were hanged on Friday for murdering a state assemblyman and chopping him into pieces during a black magic ritual in 1993.

Mona Fandey, 45, her husband Mohamed Affandi Abdul Rahman, 44, and their helper Juraimi Hussain, 31, were executed before dawn at the Kajang Prison on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Bernama news agency reported.

They were convicted of killing Mazlan Idris, assemblyman for central Pahang state, in July 1993, after he had initially approached the couple for supernatural help in boosting his political career.

Mazlan’s body was cut into 18 parts in what was believed to be an occult rite and buried behind Mona’s home in a small Pahang town, in a case that jolted the nation.

The trial of an attractive woman working hand-in-glove with her slick husband and simpleton assistant in the murder of a trusting politician hogged the media limelight for months.

Mona, 45, whose real name was Maznah Ismail, rose to notoriety overnight and courted the spotlight by modelling different outfits during her trial.

The court heard how she went for a facelift and took her husband on a shopping spree in Kuala Lumpur with the politician’s money just hours after dismembering him.

A high court in 1995 sentenced the trio to death by hanging.

Their appeal to the Federal Court was rejected in 1999 and in April this year they lost their last bid for life when the Pahang Pardons Board turned down their plea for clemency.—AFP