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ISMANIRA Abdul Manaf, the mother of six-year-old Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matin, told the Sessions Court today that she was forced to confess to murdering her own son during a remand hearing before a magistrate in June last year.
Testifying on the second day of her defence trial for a charge of child neglect, the 30-year-old said she informed the magistrate that she had been coerced and threatened.
“I told the magistrate I was not willing to appear before them because I had been forced and intimidated,” she said when questioned by her lawyer, Haresh Mahadevan. “The magistrate then accepted my plea of not guilty.”
She revealed that she had been held in remand at a 'safe house' for 13 days—described as a bungalow near a main road in Petaling Jaya—where she underwent intensive questioning.
“I was interrogated for 12 days at the house, and for one day at the lock-up of the Selangor Contingent Police Headquarters, under the special branch division,” she said. “There, I was questioned from 9am to 6pm by the same officers.”
Despite the pressure, the mother of two said she fully cooperated with the authorities. However, she claimed that the police were dissatisfied and accused her of crimes she did not commit.
Lawyer: Were the police satisfied with your cooperation?
Ismanira: No.
Lawyer: Why?
Ismanira: They accused me and fabricated allegations of wrongdoing I never committed.
Lawyer: What sort of stories?
Ismanira: They made up a story that I had found Zayn Rayyan and then accused me of murdering my own child. Even when I denied it, they were still not satisfied.
Ismanira, who works as an accounts clerk, said she lodged a police report over the matter but has yet to receive any response. She also informed the magistrate during her second remand application in a bid to seek justice.
Court proceedings were adjourned temporarily and are set to resume at 2pm today.
On 1 June 2024, police confirmed that both parents of Zayn Rayyan were remanded for seven days to assist in the murder investigation. The magistrates’ court later extended the remand for a further six days until 13 June.
According to an amended charge, Ismanira, who had custody of Zayn Rayyan, is accused of neglect in a manner likely to cause physical injury. The alleged offence took place between the afternoon of 5 December 2023 and 9.55pm the following day, spanning from Block R of Pangsapuri Idaman, Damansara Damai, to a nearby river area.
She is charged under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 and faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to RM50,000, or both, if convicted.
Zayn Rayyan was reported missing on 5 December 2023 and was found dead the following night around 10pm in a stream near his home. His body was discovered approximately 200 metres from his apartment block. - July 22, 2025