Faizul Najib Abd Munaim, 47, told the sessions court that Zaim Ikhwan Zahari also cursed those responsible for the crime.

“I cannot exactly recall the words but it did not sound soothing to the ears.

“I remember him using the word ‘celaka’ and asking who could have murdered his son,” the sixth prosecution witness said when examined by deputy public prosecutor Kamarul Iman Ahmad Sapian.

The witness said many people, including those who were involved in the search for the autistic child, had gathered near a stream where his body was found at about 9.30pm on Dec 6, 2023.

Faizul, who occasionally broke down during his testimony, said Zaim was impolite when asking about the discovery of his son’s body.

He asked me: “Was not my child alive when you went to the stream?”

“I did not take the question seriously as he was emotionally distressed,” he said.

However, Zaim’s wife, Ismanira Abdul Manaf, appeared cool and attempted to calm down the husband.

“She accepted the fact that her child had died,” he added.

Faizul, who lives in Apartment Saujana, located 700m from the crime scene, said he had been involved in the search for the boy on the day he was reported missing at 12.30pm on Dec 5, 2023.

The witness, who is also a committee member of a surau, said he came to know of Zayyn Rayyan’s disappearance through a chat group.

Faizul said he continued the search at about 7pm on Dec 6, and went to the apartment block where the boy’s parents lived.

Carrying a torchlight, the witness said he then went to a pondok where about 10 people had gathered to look for the boy.

“They invited me to have supper but I politely declined as my mission was to locate Zayyn Rayyan,” he added.

Faizul said he entered an area overgrown by bushes, pointed his torchlight at a stream and spotted a body on a sand bank.

“I screamed: ‘Found. Call an ambulance,'” he said, adding that he jumped into the stream immediately.

He said Zayn Rayyan’s body was fully-clothed, looked clean and was lying in a foetal position.

The witness also said a neighbour later told him that the body was not there when he went to the stream earlier at 10.30am on the same day.

Cross-examined by the couple’s lead counsel Haresh Mahadevan, Faizul agreed some public-spirited citizens had disseminated information on social media soon after the boy had gone missing.

He also said he did not know the couple prior to the ill-fated incident.

Haresh: Was the father’s reaction on hearing that his son had died to be expected?

Faizul: Yes, but he appeared to be insinuating (that his son was alive when I went to the stream).

Ismanira and Zaim, 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 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.