Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - A Malaysian truck driver, irritated by an argument between his two wives, drank weedkiller in front of them in an apparent suicide attempt, news reports said on Wednesday.

The unidentified 46-year-old Muslim man was in a critical condition in hospital after drinking the poison Sunday, the Star and New Straits Times newspapers reported.

Hospital officials were not immediately available to comment Wednesday.

Islam allows a man up to four wives and polygamy is common and legal in Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the population are Muslim.

Polygamy is common and legal in Malaysia

The reports said the truck driver was with his younger wife, who is aged 20, at his mother's house in the central state of Pahang when his first wife, who is 35, turned up unexpectedly.

An argument ensued between the two women, attracting a large crowd of neighbours, the New Straits Times said. In frustration, the truck driver rushed to the back of the house and fetched the bottle of weedkiller, which he drank before the shocked onlookers.
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