Daughter in Sweden abuse case uncomfortable about talking to interviewers

STOCKHOLM: The daughter of the Malaysian couple on trial here for allegedly hitting their children, brick-walled interviewers, saying family issues were a secret.

Aishah, the eldest of four children of Toursim Malaysia director Azizul Raheem Awalluddin and teacher Shalwati Nurshal, said she was unsure or had forgotten details of events spanning the last two years.

“I don’t feel comfortable telling this,” she said, responding to queries by a policewoman on who decided it was a secret.

“For me, it’s a secret. It’s like ... embarrassing. It’s better not to talk to anyone,” said the 14-year-old girl.

“I feel bad telling things that mum doesn’t know about,” she replied, when asked how she felt talking to the police in a pre-recorded interview shown at the Solna district court here.

Aishah’s parents were detained on Dec 18 last year after their eldest son, Ammar, 12, told staff at his school that he had been hit. 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 at the family’s home in Spnga, a Stockholm suburb, between Sept 15, 2010 and Dec 17, 2013.

Asked about her parents hitting her, Aishah said she did not remember as it happened “a long time ago”. “I have low memory. I forget things easily,” she said.

The policewoman repeatedly asked the same questions, to which Aishah replied: “Why do I have to say this again?”

Asked if they should pause so the interviewer could go over her notes, Aishah declined to take a break. She admitted her mother often threatened the children with a hanger when they were disobedient.

“I got used to it, so I don’t get scared and just do what she tells me to,” said Aishah. Asked of any incident involving her father, Aishah said: “I was so scared I completely forgot about it.”

The trial continues on Feb 28.