A father grieves but forgives

KUALA LUMPUR: It was extremely hard to do, but the father of the late Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain has forgiven those who were involved in the death of his son who died of injuries from a steam iron four years ago.

Zulkarnain Idros, 57, said it was not easy for him, but he believed it was “the best thing to do” for him to find peace in his heart.

“However, I am disappointed that nobody from their (the accused) families came to us to apologise on behalf of their sons.

“Only one family came to apologise. The rest always tried to avoid us whenever we met in court during proceedings,” he told the press after the proceedings ended here yesterday.

Seeking justice: Zulfarhan’s family members attending the decision of the case at KL High Court. — ART CHEN/The Star

Zulkarnain and his wife Hawa Osman, 58, travelled from Johor to come to court to hear the decision in the case and for closure.

“I am supposed to do bypass surgery but decided to postpone it as this is more important to me,” he said.

Both husband and wife came in matching dark blue T-shirts bearing the slogans #justice4farhan, #sayNOtoBULLY and #humanity.

Hawa said she was relieved that the day of decision had finally come.

“I miss him very much. He would have been 25 years old on Nov 29 if he was still alive.

Gone too soon: Zulfarhan was pronounced dead on June 1, 2017.

“As a mother I am very sad but praise be to Allah, we are able to face this with patience and perseverance,” she said.

The trial began on Jan 29, 2018, with a total of 31 prosecution witnesses and 20 defence witnesses taking the stand.

All the accused were ordered to enter their defence on July 31, 2019, after the court found that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against them.

The 18 students, now aged 25, were accused of committing the offence inside a room at the Jebat Hostel Block, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), between 2.30am and 5.30am on May 21, 2017, and in the same room between 1.30am and 4.30am on May 22 the same year.

Zulfarhan had burn marks and bruises and was pronounced dead on June 1, 2017 at Hospital Serdang.