Seven years on, woman still traumatised by Tohoi tragedy

Painful ordeal: A flashback of The Star’s report on the Tohoi tragedy on Oct 10, 2015. After the incident, Along (inset, bottom) said that their family decided to stop Mirsudiar (inset, top) from attending school as they were worried about her safety. — Bernama

GUA MUSANG: Seven years ago, the country was shocked by an incident involving the 47-day disappearance of seven Orang Asli students from Sekolah Kebangsaan Tohoi near here, where five students died, while two were found alive.

For one of the survivors, Mirsudiar Aluj, 18, the memory of the incident is still very fresh.

She said although she was happy to be with her family, the incident still traumatised her.

“I no longer want to study and just want to stay in the village with my family. I am happy here,” she told reporters.

She was with her family in Kampung Gawin, near Pos Gob.

She remembered being found and the time when many outsiders came by to meet her.

However, it has been two years since she last met outsiders who asked her how she was doing.

Meanwhile, Along Alej, 62, said that his granddaughter Mirsudiar was slowly getting back to living her life normally.

After getting over the trauma of being lost in the jungle, he said his granddaughter is slowly making friends with other young people in their village.

“Since the incident, Mirsudiar prefers being on her own and does not mix with other members of the family. She keeps having nightmares of being lost in the jungle with her other friends who died,” he said.

Following the ordeal, Along said that they decided to stop Mirsudiar from attending school as they were worried about her safety and a recurrence of such an incident.

On Aug 23, 2015, seven SK Tohoi pupils fled from their hostel as they feared being punished after going for a bath at a nearby river without permission.

After almost 50 days, Norieen Yaakob, then 10, and Mirsudiar, then 11, were found alive, but in a gaunt state near Sungai Perias, while the skeletal remains of five students were later found in the same area.

The other five who didn’t survive were Ika Ayel, nine; Sasa Sobrie, eight; Haikal Yaakob, eight; Linda Rosli, eight; and Juvina David, seven; who were all from Kampung Gawin and Kampung Penad. — Bernama