Kidnapped cop’s wife prays, hopes and cries

KOTA KINABALU: It has been a frustrating four months for housewife Sharifah Erna Berson (pic).

The 23-year-old mother of an eight-month-old boy hopes that her abducted husband, marine police Kons Zakiah Aleip, will come home soon.

“I pray, I hope, I cry. I just hope Zakiah will come back safely to us,” said Sharifah, who has been living with Kons Zakiah’s family in Tuaran near here following her husband’s abduction from Pulau Mabul in Semporna on July 12.

Kons Zakiah was abducted after gunmen attacked a marine police unit that also resulted in the killing of Kpl Ab Rajah Jamuan, 32.

“There is not much from my husband these days. They (the abductors) usually contact the police,” she said in an interview at home.

She said she believed that Kons Zakiah was “safe” and guarded by gunmen.

“I don’t know when he will be released. I just hope it will be soon.

“Our prayers for his safe return continue every day. Our son is growing fast … he is learning to walk. I wish his father was here to watch him grow,” said Sharifah.

Abu Sayyaf gunmen holding Kons Zakiah in Jolo island in the southern Philippines have reportedly demanded RM3mil as ransom, threatening to kill him if the money is not paid by Nov 30.

Malaysian police said they did not want to compromise the “no-ransom policy” but were continuing ne­­gotiations on humanitarian grounds to secure the release of Kons Zakiah and also Kunak fish breeder Chan Sai Chuin, 32, who was abducted by Filipino gunmen on June 16.

Related story:
Anxiety grows for abducted manager