Man arrested for drug-fueled murder of woman in Hanoi

Police in Hanoi have arrested a man suspected of killing his girlfriend in a drug-fueled act of apparent exorcism.

An investigation found that Nguyen Viet Cuong and the victim had been using methamphetamine and having sex at his apartment early on Monday morning.

At around 8 a.m., Cuong started hallucinating and seeing ghosts, and in an attempt to ward them off, shoved garlic into the victim's mouth, who consequently suffocated, police said.

Police found more than 30 garlic cloves stuck in the throat of the 20-year-old victim.

His neighbors said they saw him running down the road and screaming early that morning, before snatching garlic from a local vendor.

“He looked terrible, like he was about to kill somebody,” said a woman. She said she was so scared that she dropped her breakfast and ran.

Police said Cuong, who is a singer, will be charged with manslaughter, which is punishable by up to five years in jail in Vietnam.