Rashidah Rajali, 37, who lives in the same apartment block as Zayn Rayyan’s parents Ismanira Abdul Manaf and Zaim Ikhwan Zahari, said children often played at the playground in the evenings and she always accompanied them, reported Bernama.
“However, I have never seen Zayn Rayyan playing there,” she said.
“I have three children who frequently ride bicycles along the corridor, yet I have never seen Zayn Rayyan playing in the corridor either, even though we live on the same floor.”
She said this during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharudin on the seventh day of the trial involving Ismanira and Zaim, who have been charged with child neglect.
On Feb 5, a former investigating officer at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters, Nina Syamimi Syamsuddin, 33, testified that when Ismanira was having her statement recorded, she said that Zayn Rayyan had refused to go inside upon returning home on Dec 5, 2023 as he wanted to play on the swing.
Nina testified that Ismanira had said she was climbing the stairs and the child was walking behind her on that day.
Ismanira, she testified, had said that at the time of the incident she was holding shopping bags in both hands. When Ismanira realised she couldn’t hear her child’s footsteps, she placed the bags on the stairs, turned around, and discovered that he was missing.
Nina, the fourth prosecution witness, had testified that Ismanira searched around Block R until 1pm before contacting her husband to inform him that their child was missing.
Rashidah, the 16th prosecution witness, told the court today that when she saw Ismanira on the staircase of Block R at around 12.15pm on Dec 5, 2023, she did not see her carrying any item other than a blue-and-red bag and a sling bag.
“I bumped into Ismanira while I was heading downstairs to send my eldest child to school, and she was going up. She was wearing a black headscarf, a white blouse and either black palazzo pants or a skirt. She was looking down and we did not speak,” she said.
Earlier, two 10-year-old boys gave their testimonies during a closed-door (in-camera) proceeding.
Ismanira and Zaim, both 30, claimed trial 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 is framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 which carries a maximum fine of RM50,000, imprisonment for 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 the following day.
The autistic child was believed to have been murdered after an autopsy revealed injuries to his neck and body, consistent with self-defence.
The trial continues tomorrow.