Five-year-old dies after uncle allegedly throws her into river in Kota Tinggi

A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl died after she was allegedly thrown into a river by her uncle in Kampung Padang, Tanjung Sedili, after she had returned with her father to the village to obtain medicine.

Sedili assemblyman Muszaidi Makmor said the victim, Puteri Nur Afiyah Qalesya Mustafa, had returned with her 40-year-old father, who lives and runs a food business in Muar.

He said the suspect had also followed them to Tanjung Sedili before allegedly acting unexpectedly.

“Unfortunately, the suspect, who was believed to be of unsound mind, acted unexpectedly,” he said in a Facebook post.

Muszaidi said he had visited the victim’s father at Tanjung Sedili Health Clinic on Monday afternoon and expressed his condolences to the family.

“May this family be given the strength to endure this very heavy test,” he said.

Earlier, the victim’s grandmother, Mahani, said the family had breakfast together before Puteri asked for permission to play outside.

“Puteri then played on the swing and after that I started looking for her. I asked her father, but he also did not know where she was.

“I had a bad feeling, so I asked my son-in-law to go to the river before we saw Puteri’s slipper on the riverbank,” she said.

Mahani said the girl was later found lying face down on the bank of the river, about 300 metres from the family home.

Kota Tinggi district police chief Superintendent Yusof Othman said the suspect was arrested after police received a report about the incident at about 9.30am.

He said the suspect was believed to have thrown the girl into the river before becoming agitated, taking a parang and chasing the victim’s father. - September 22, 2026