Damansara damai: The mother of the late Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matin today told the Sessions Court here that she suspected her son was abducted by someone while they were climbing the stairs to her residence on the day the autistic child went missing.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Ismanira Abdul Manaf, 30, expressed her suspicions as she did not hear the sound of her son’s footsteps and people running as they climbed the stairs from the first to the second floor of Block R, Idaman Apartments, Damansara Damai on December 5, 2023. The first defence witness did not agree with the suggestion of Deputy Public Prosecutor Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharudin that no one took or abducted her six-year-old son on the day of the incident.
“I suspected my child was kidnapped and taken away because I didn’t hear the sound of his footsteps,” she stated on the second day of the defence proceedings in the neglect case involving the child.
Ismanira explained that on the day of the incident, she walked in front of Zayn Rayyan and did not look back, relying solely on her sense of hearing to monitor Zayn Rayyan’s whereabouts behind her. Despite agreeing with the prosecution’s suggestion that visual monitoring is clearer and quicker, she maintained that Zayn Rayyan never left the house without her and was always under her supervision.
The accused also disagreed with the prosecution’s claim that she left Zayn Rayyan to play on a swing alone while she went up to her house on the second floor of the apartment on December 5, 2023. She stated, “While walking, sometimes Zayn will run in front of me or behind me under my supervision. Zayn knows the stairs up to the house and he also knows our house.”
She further elaborated that Zayn also remembers familiar routes, such as to his grandparents’ house, school, and the shop. “I know how my son is… Zayn is a smart person even though he has a disability (autism), he knows his home,” she added.
Yesterday, Judge Dr Syahliza Warnoh ordered Ismanira to enter her defence after the prosecution successfully proved a prima facie case against her, while her husband, Zaim Ikhwan Zahari, 30, was discharged and acquitted of the same charge. Both were charged with neglecting Zayn Rayyan in a manner likely to cause physical harm to the victim in the area of Block R, Idaman Apartments, Damansara Damai up to the nearby river area between noon on December 5 and 9.55 pm on December 6, 2023.
They faced charges under Section 31(1)(a) of the Children Act 2001 read with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment or a fine of RM50,000 or both, if convicted.