His Royal Highness Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah with the victim's husband, Mohammad Afiq Akhmal Nudin. Photo: Kesultanan Pahang/Facebook
KUANTAN: The Sultan of Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has called for the immediate arrest of the suspect involved in the case of a female food trader found dead by the riverbank near the Tanjung Lumpur bridge on Thursday (Feb 13).
Al-Sultan Abdullah described the crime as 'cruel and inhumane'.
"His Royal Highness urged that the suspect be apprehended immediately and be punished accordingly if found guilty of murder," according to a post on the Kesultanan Pahang Facebook page on today.
Earlier, Al-Sultan Abdullah met with the victim’s family at Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital Forensic Department.
Tengku Ampuan of Pahang, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah and Crown Prince Tengku Mahkota Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah were in attendance.
Al-Sultan Abdullah, who was affected by the family's grief, comforted the victim's father, Zainal Rahim, 65, and husband, Mohammad Afiq Akhmal Nudin, 31.
His Royal Highness also offered advice and support to Mohammad Afiq Akhmal.
Speaking to reporters, Zainal said he never imagined such a tragic incident would involve his family and expressed his deep sorrow over the loss of his second child, Norshamira, 37.
"The last time I saw my daughter was on Jan 28 in Melaka when we visited our relatives. Norshamira was friendly and always called me and my wife to check on us.
"I was informed about the incident yesterday by my daughter's husband. I never imagined she would leave us this way. I hope police will soon arrest the perpetrator," he added.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Afiq Akhmal said he went out looking for his wife at 5am after realising she was not home.
"On Wednesday, my wife mentioned she would be home around 10.30pm but didn't return until morning, which led me to search for her with friends. We found our car in Tanjung Lumpur after I had a hunch to head there, as I had previously delivered orders in that area.
"There was no one in the car, and my wife was later found by a friend. My father informed the police about the discovery," he said, adding that Norshamira had been selling sambal ikan bilis for the past year and made deliveries four times a week.
The remains of the mother of a five-year-old boy will be laid to rest at the Perantau Damai Keratong 8 Muslim Cemetery in Rompin after the postmortem investigations today.
Yesterday, Bernama reported that the body of a 37-year-old local female food trader was found by the riverbank near the Tanjung Lumpur Bridge here, and investigation revealed signs of foul play on the victim's body. – Bernama
