PETALING JAYA: The police pressured me to confess that I killed my son, Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matin's mother told the Sessions Court on Tuesday (July 22).
Ismanira Abdul Manaf said this when giving her statement during the second day of her defence trial.
Sinar Harian reported that when questioned by lawyer Haresh Mahadevan, she said that she expressed her dissatisfaction over the ordeal to a magistrate.
"I said that I did not consent to being brought forward to the magistrate because I had been forced and threatened.
"The magistrate then accepted my pleas of not guilty then," she said.
She added that she had been kept at a safe house for 13 days alone in Petaling Jaya and that she was questioned by the Selangor police contigent's Special Branch.
"I was investigated from 9am to 6pm by the same officer," she said, adding that she cooperated with the police.
When asked by the lawyer if the police were satisfied with her cooperation, she said that they were and added that they created a story of her guilt.
"The police created this story that I was the one who found Zayn Rayyan and accused me of killing my own son but when I denied doing so, they were unsatisfied," she said.
She also said that she had sought justice and brought the matter up to the magistrate when she was brought forward to extend her remand period.
On Monday (July 21), Judge Dr Syahliza Warnoh ordered Ismanira to enter her defence after the prosecution successfully established a prima facie case against her, while her husband, Zaim Ikhwan Zahari, 30, was discharged and acquitted of the same charge.
They were charged with neglecting Zayn Rayyan in a manner likely to cause him physical harm, at or around Block R, Idaman Apartments in Damansara Damai, extending to a nearby river area, between noon on Dec 5 and 9.55pm on Dec 6, 2023, under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment, a fine of up to RM50,000, or both, upon conviction.
