Girl’s Death In River: Isyak Prayer Request Becomes Last Family Memory

By Mohamad Syazwan Mustafa

KOTA TINGGI, Sept 21 (Bernama) -- A simple request from five-year-old Putri Nur Afiyah Qalesya Mustafa to her father to join her for the Isyak prayer last night became the family’s final memory of her before she was found dead after being thrown into a river at Kampung Padang, Tanjung Sedili, here.

Mahani Mad Som, 63, said she found it unusual that her granddaughter, the youngest of two siblings, had asked her father to join her for the Isyak prayer for the first time.

“Yesterday, she seemed different from usual. She asked for instant noodles with a runny-yolk egg, then she asked her father to pray with her. It was the first time she had ever asked him to pray with her.

“My granddaughter was such a bright little girl. She always picked things up quickly whenever we taught her something,” she said when met by Bernama at her home here today.

Mahani said she discovered her granddaughter was missing at about 9 a.m. after breakfast when she found the girl’s cradle empty and immediately asked the victim’s father to search for her.

“I had a bad feeling when I called out to her by the cradle and she didn’t respond. We immediately started looking for her and found her lying face down in the river. Her father rushed in and pulled her out of the water,” she said.

The river is about 300 metres from the victim’s home and can be reached via an unpaved path through an orchard.

Mahani said children in the village would never go to the river alone as they had to pass through the orchard to get there.

Meanwhile, she said her son, who had been detained by police to assist in investigations into her granddaughter’s death, had previously received treatment for mental health problems at Permai Hospital in Tampoi and was scheduled to collect his medication at Kota Tinggi Hospital this morning.

Police arrested the victim’s 37-year-old uncle this morning on suspicion of throwing the child into the river, causing her death.

Kota Tinggi District Police Chief Supt Yusof Othman said the suspect was detained after police received a report at about 9.30 a.m. that the 37-year-old man had gone on a rampage while armed with a machete.

He added that police were still investigating the motive and circumstances of the incident under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

--BERNAMA