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THE death of five-year-old Puteri Nur Afiyah Qalesya Mustafa in Kampung Padang, Tanjung Sedili, Kota Tinggi, has shocked her family and the local community after she was allegedly thrown into a river by her uncle on Sept 21.
Police have arrested and remanded the 37-year-old suspect, while investigations are being conducted under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
Who was Puteri Nur Afiyah Qalesya?
Puteri Nur Afiyah was the youngest of two siblings and was visiting her family in Tanjung Sedili with her 40-year-old father, who lives and operates a food business in Muar.
Sedili assemblyman Muszaidi Makmor said the girl had returned to the village with her father to obtain medicine. He said the suspect had also travelled with them 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 visited the victim's father at Tanjung Sedili Health Clinic in the afternoon on Sept 21 and expressed his sympathy to the family.
“May this family be given the strength to endure this very heavy test,” he said.
What happened on Sept 21?
According to Puteri Nur Afiyah's grandmother, Mahani Mad Som, 63, the family had breakfast together before the girl asked permission to play outside their home.
Puteri Nur Afiyah reportedly played on a swing before Mahani realised that she was missing. She asked the girl's father, but he also did not know where she was.
“Puteri then played on the swing and after that I started looking for her. I asked her father, but he 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.
The girl was subsequently found lying face down on the riverbank, about 300 metres from the family home.
Kota Tinggi district police chief Superintendent Yusof Othman said police received a report at about 9.30am and arrested the suspect at the scene.
He said the suspect was believed to have thrown the victim into the river before becoming agitated and taking a machete. The suspect then allegedly chased and threatened the girl's 40-year-old father.
“The victim was later confirmed dead by a medical assistant who arrived at the scene. The cause of the incident is still under investigation and the suspect is also believed to have mental health problems.
“A struggle occurred when police arrested the suspect, resulting in a police officer being injured,” Yusof said in a statement.
Puteri Nur Afiyah's body was taken to the Kota Tinggi Hospital before being transferred to Pasir Gudang Hospital for a post-mortem.
Her final moments with her family
For Mahani, one of the most painful memories was Puteri Nur Afiyah's unusual invitation to her father to perform the Isyak prayers together on the night before her death.
“Papa, hurry up... let’s pray.”
Mahani said this was the first time she had heard her granddaughter repeatedly invite her father to pray with her.
“She had never said anything like that before. It was indeed the first time that night that I heard her repeatedly invite her father to pray together,” she said.
The family later spent the night together before Puteri Nur Afiyah went outside to play the following morning. Mahani described her granddaughter as a clever child who was particularly close to her.
“Every time she returned to the village, she would tell me all sorts of things,” she said.
What happened to the suspect?
Police arrested the 37-year-old suspect at the scene on Sept 21. He was subsequently taken to Kota Tinggi Hospital for a medical examination before appearing at the Kota Tinggi court on Sept 22.
Judge Hafizah Abdul Rajak granted a seven-day remand order, allowing the suspect to be held until Sept 28 to assist investigations under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
Police have not established the motive for the incident. Yusof said investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death is ongoing.
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