Sweden child abuse trial: I feel estranged from mum, says daughter

STOCKHOLM: The daughter of the Malaysian couple in Sweden on trial for allegedly hitting their children, admitted she was estranged from her parents, thinking of her aunts as her "real mum".

"I'm close to my mum's sisters, I feel they're like my real mum. I don't feel close with my actual mum," said Aishah.

Upon hearing this, her mother Shalwati Nurshal pulled back in her seat, while her father Azizul Raheem Awalluddin looked down and rubbed his temples with his thumbs.

Aishah's parents were detained Dec 18 last year after their eldest son, Ammar told staff at his school that he had been hit.

When asked if she liked her dad, Aishah said she was not close to him either and preferred to be alone in her room.

During the pre-recorded interview shown in the Solna district court on Tuesday, Aishah recalled a fight with her mum over some clothes the aunt bought for Aishah.

"One time my aunt bought me jeans, and mum said it was supposed to be under RM50.

"But I got two pairs of jeans for about RM100 something instead, so mum scolded me, saying it was too expensive," said Aishah.

Asked how it made her feel, Aishah said "angry and sad", absent-mindedly tearing the tissue paper placed on the interview table.

In an earlier interview, Aishah said all the siblings wanted to go live with their aunt in Malaysia, after spending some time in a Swedish foster home.

Aishah and her siblings - Ammar, 12, Adam, 11 and Arif, seven - were placed in the custody of their aunt Shalena Hisham Makhzan and her husband Nik Farid Nik Abdullah, when the arrived back in Malaysia on Feb 1.

The siblings have since been attending school and living in Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

On Feb 10, Shalwati and Azizul were charged with multiple counts of gross violation of a child's integrity, by hitting and abusing their children.

The alleged offences took place in the family's home in Spånga, a Stockholm suburb, between September 15, 2010 and December 17, 2013.

The trial continues Feb 28.