Ahmad Nur Syaruddin Mad Zawawi said he and his friends had on the night of Dec 6, 2023 returned to Block R of Apartment Idaman, Damansara Damai, where the boy was last seen with his mother a day earlier.

The witness, a customer service officer, was responding to deputy public prosecutor Aqrie Durranie Aziz’s question as to whether anyone had told him to conduct a search in the locality.

“No one told us but because as Muslims, sometimes we think of mystic elements,” said Nur Syaruddin, 36, during evidence-in-chief.

Cross-examined by defence counsel Haresh Mahadevan on what he meant by “mysticism”, the witness said: “I am Muslim. There are mystic elements like spirits and demons that I still believe in.”

Haresh: So you believe there were mystic elements in the discovery of Zayn Rayyan’s body?

Nur Syaruddin: No, not in the discovery of his body. When the child went missing, I felt he may have been hidden by spirits.

The witness said he searched upstream for the boy together with a group of friends up to the area where the boy’s body was discovered.

Earlier today, another witness, Faizul Najib Abd Munaim, testified that he had with the aid of a torchlight spotted a body on a sand bank near a stream.

Nur Syaruddin said his group of friends had followed Faizul closely.

Zayn Rayyan’s parents, Ismanira Abdul Manaf and Zaim Ikhwan Zahari, both 30, claimed trial to a charge of child neglect on June 13 last year.

The offence allegedly occurred at PJU Damansara Damai between noon on Dec 5 and 9.55pm on Dec 6, 2023.

The charge, framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, is punishable with a maximum fine of RM50,000, imprisonment of up to 20 years, or both, upon conviction.

Zayn Rayyan, who suffered from autism, 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.

The hearing before trial judge Syahliza Warnoh continues tomorrow.