Witness: Zayn Rayyan's father was likely overcome by emotions

A WITNESS said he heard Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matin's father scream some unpleasantries when he saw the 6-year-old autistic boy's body on a sandbank near a stream behind their apartment complex.

The sixth prosecution witness, Faizul Najib Abd Munaim, 47, told the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court that he discovered the boy's body at 9.40pm during a search with others at Apartment Idaman, Damansara Damai on the night of Dec 6, 2023.

"I was standing a metre away and I heard the father say things like 'celaka'. And I remember he said, 'who killed my child'.

"I was dumbfounded, but I understand that his child had gone missing and maybe he was overwhelmed with emotions," he said.

However, he said the mother was calm as she had probably accepted the fact that her son was gone and was able to control her emotions.

The witness told judge Dr Syahliza Warnoh a policeman named Corporal Mohammad Hunter El Arash Jeanawie Untam arrived at the scene and put a black coat over the body and prevented large crowds from gathering.

"The situation was turning chaotic, and the boy's grandfather also arrived and held the body," he said.

Faizul, who lives at Apartment Saujana, said he had embarked on his own search after receiving WhatsApp messages from his community and surau groups on the disappearance of the boy.

"The next day (Dec 7) after the discovery, my wife told me that the case had been reclassified as murder.

"I was asked to go to the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters to have my statement recorded," he added. – February 6, 2025