Corporal Nurul Khairina Zuki, who received the first information report said the boy’s mother, Ismanira Abdul Manaf, looked calm and composed when she arrived at the police station at about 5.45pm on Dec 5, 2023.
“In her report, Ismanira said she was heading back to her apartment together with her son who was behind her. The mother said she was carrying Zayn Rayyan’s bag and other stuff after grocery shopping.
“When she turned around, the mother realised the child was missing. She said Zayn Rayyan was suffering from autism and could not speak,” the witness said when examined by deputy public prosecutor Kamarul Iman Ahmad Sapian.
The witness also said the child had been protesting and had refused to follow Ismanira’s orders.
Nurul Khairina said it took her about 20 minutes to take the report.
She said Ismanira appeared normal, just like any other member of the public who came to lodge reports.
The witness said she then called senior investigating officer, Nor Zaharuddin Sanip, and briefed him about the report.
“Nor Zaharuddin instructed me to refer the case to the investigating officer on duty (Nina Syamimi Syamsuddin),” she said, adding that Ismanira left the police station shortly after making the report.
Cross-examined by lawyer Haresh Mahadevan, Nurul Khairina agreed that Ismanira had searched for her child with the help of neighbours first before she came to the police station.
Haresh: I put it to you that the Sri Damansara police station had received a call at about 12.30pm that the boy had gone missing before the mother arrived.
Nurul Khairina: Not true.
Haresh: Do you know the police went to the crime scene about five hours after the mother had made the report?
Nurul Khairina: I did not know.
Haresh: Did the mother look apprehensive?
Nurul Khairina: She looked normal, like any other person.
Haresh: Was she jumping for joy in the police station?
Nurul Khairina: No.
The witness also told the lawyer that she had no TikTok account but had closely followed the case.
Ismanira and her husband, Zaim Ikhwan Zahari, both 30, pleaded not guilty on June 13 last year to neglecting six-year-old Zayn Rayyan in a manner likely to cause him physical harm.
The offence allegedly occurred at PJU Damansara Damai between noon on Dec 5 and 9.55pm on Dec 6, 2023.
The charge was framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, 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 after an autopsy revealed injuries to his neck and body, consistent with self-defence.
Hearing before trial judge Syahliza Warnoh was adjourned to tomorrow.