Testifying in the sessions court here, investigating officer Hafizee Ismail said he told Ismanira Abdul Manaf she would be produced before a magistrate to have her confession recorded under Section 26(1) of the Evidence Act 1950.
“I informed her at about 10pm that the confession will be recorded at about 9am on June 12, 2024,” the 28th prosecution witness said in his witness statement but without further elaboration.
Ismanira and her husband, Zaim Ikhwan Zahari, both 30, were arrested on May 31 and held in remand for the maximum 14-day period permitted under the law.
Hafizee said at about 4pm on June 13, 2024 he received instructions to charge them for neglecting their six-year-old son in a manner likely to cause the boy physical harm.
The offence is alleged to have occurred at PJU Damansara Damai between noon on Dec 5 — when the boy was said to have gone missing — and 9.55pm the following day, when his body was discovered in a stream near his home at Apartment Idaman, Damansara Damai.
The charge, framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, is punishable with a maximum fine of RM50,000, imprisonment for up to 20 years, or both, upon conviction.
The boy was believed to have been murdered after an autopsy revealed injuries to his neck and body.
Today, Hafizee also told the court that he had escorted Ismanira from the police lockup at about 9am on June 10 to the family home at Apartment Idaman for a re-enactment of the circumstances that took place between the time the boy vanished and when his body was found.
“I instructed a police team from Bukit Aman to record the re-enactment which took about two hours,” he said.
Hafizee said the recording was downloaded onto a pen drive and handed to him later.
The police officer also said that on Dec 12, a week after the incident, he received a preliminary report from the chemistry department which confirmed a foreign object was found in the victim’s throat.
“It turned out to be a pulai leaf. Based on my investigation, there was a pulai tree, about 10m from where the deceased’s body was found,” he said.
The prosecution also tendered about 50 exhibits through Hafizee, who initially investigated the case as murder.
Lawyers Haresh Mahadevan, Ramzani Idris and Lavanesh Haresh are appearing for the couple, while deputy public prosecutors Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharudin and Aqharie Durranie Aziz are prosecuting.
The hearing before judge Syahliza Warnoh was adjourned to tomorrow.