PETALING JAYA: The Sessions Court was informed today that Ismanira Abdul Manaf appeared “blank,“ emotionless, and unresponsive when police recorded her statement on the disappearance of her son at Blok R, Idaman Apartment, Damansara Damai.
Insp Nina Syamimi Syamsuddin, 33, a former investigator with the Petaling Jaya District Police Headquarters (IPD), testified that she observed the reaction of Ismanira, the complainant and mother of the missing autistic boy when they met at the apartment on Dec 5, 2023.
“At the time, she seemed ‘blank’,” she said during her testimony on the third day of the trial of Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matin’s parents before Judge Dr. Syahliza Warnoh.
When questioned by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Aqharie Durranie Aziz about the meaning of “blank,” the fourth prosecution witness explained, “She appeared emotionless and did not react at that moment.”
Nina Syamimi, currently with the Integrity and Standard Compliance Department at the Selangor Police Contingent Headquarters, added that she had also asked the complainant to recount how Zayn Rayyan had gone missing.
“The complainant recounted that on the way home, the boy refused to return, wanting to continue playing on the swing. She walked up the stairs with him behind her, but when she stopped hearing his footsteps, she turned around and discovered that he had gone missing.
“The complainant informed me that she was holding some shopping items in both hands. When she couldn’t hear his footsteps, she placed the things down, turned around, and realised the boy was no longer there. She searched around Block R until 1 pm before contacting her husband,” the witness said.
Nina Syamimi added that she then asked the complainant to sign the Nur Alert form to issue a public notice. However, Ismanira informed her that she had already posted about her son’s disappearance on Facebook.
Earlier, Nina Syamimi testified that she received the police report from the Sri Damansara Police Station at 5.51 pm on Dec 5, 2023, via a phone call from Cpl Nurul Khairina Mohammad Zuki.
The witness explained that Nurul Khairina informed her that a 28-year-old woman, Ismanira Abdul Manaf, had reported that her six-year-old autistic son had gone missing at Blok R of the Idaman Apartment.
Nina Syamimi testified that she subsequently spoke with the complainant on the phone and Ismanira informed her that her son, who held an autistic disability card, had gone missing at noon on Dec 5, 2023.
“I asked why she had filed the police report late, and she explained that she had first tried searching the surrounding area of the apartment, contacted her husband, and sought advice from a neighbour.
“The neighbour advised her to report the matter to the police. I instructed her to come to the Petaling Jaya IPD to record her statement,“ the witness stated.
Nina Syamimi added that on the same day (Dec 5, 2023), she received a phone call at 7 pm from the head of Block R, who reported seeing someone resembling the complainant’s son in the block.
“I called Ismanira and asked her to return home to meet the head of the block. However, she insisted on meeting me at the Petaling Jaya IPD. I also spoke with her husband, who raised his voice, insisting on meeting with me first,“ she said, adding that she had also contacted the Block R head to wait for the couple at the apartment.
Meanwhile, former senior investigating officer of the Petaling Jaya IPD, ASP Nor Zaharuddin Sanip, 42, testified that on Dec 5, 2023, he instructed Nina Syamimi to contact the Civil Defence Force and the fire department, while he contacted the Bukit Aman K9 unit.
Nor Zaharuddin, who is currently in the Traffic Enforcement Investigation Division at the Klang Utara IPD, said the K9 unit, accompanied by two dogs, searched the bushes, stream, and the areas within a 700-metre radius of Block R.
However, the fifth prosecution witness explained that the K9 unit was unable to detect anything due to the rainy weather, scent contamination, and previous public access to the area.
During today’s proceedings, DPP Aqharie requested a site visit to the vicinity of the Idaman Apartment in Damansara Damai, linked to the missing person case following the police report filed by Ismanira.
The court then adjourned the main examination of the two witnesses pending the site visit, which will be scheduled at a later date.
On June 13 last year, Zaim Ikhwan and Ismanira, both aged 30, pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court to a charge of neglecting their six-year-old autistic son in a manner likely to cause physical harm.
The offence allegedly occurred along PJU Damansara Damai between noon on Dec 5 and 9.55 pm on Dec 6, 2023.
They were charged under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which is punishable by a maximum fine of RM50,000, imprisonment of up to 20 years, or both upon conviction.
Zayn Rayyan was reported missing on Dec 5, 2023, and his body was discovered in a stream near his home at Apartment Idaman, Damansara Damai, the following day.
He was believed to have been murdered, and an autopsy revealed injuries to his neck and body, consistent with self-defense.
