Compiled by TEH ATHIRA YUSOF, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
THE parents of three girls murdered in Kedah in 2013 say they will never forgive the killer, even though he reportedly died three weeks ago.
“Even though 13 years have passed and he is now gone, I cannot forgive him. He had robbed my three daughters of their lives in an instant. Only God can repay his cruelty,” Siti Aishah Ariffin, 53, told Berita Harian.
The girls – Noor Syafikah Nadia, 14, Nur Izzati Husna, 12, and Puteri Nurul Akma, three – died in a brutal attack.
The remains of the eldest girl were found in an abandoned padi field in Kampung Alor Senibong, Alor Setar, while her younger sisters were discovered in a nearby irrigation canal.
Siti Aishah and her husband Rusdi Rani, 51, later moved to Terengganu, unable to remain in their village due to their grief and the fact that the killer’s house was nearby to their old home.
Until today, the couple do not know the motive behind the murders, and the suspect’s family has never met them to apologise.
Every Hari Raya Aidilfitri is the hardest for Siti Aishah as it would remind her of her daughters.
“They would have been 27, 25 and 16 this year. Now it is only the two of us left living our days together,” she added.
> Actress and singer Diana Rafar shared with Utusan Malaysia that she had assisted nine individuals to convert to Islam.
According to Diana, the experience began around 2020 during the Covid-19 movement control order, when she was approached by someone seeking help to guide a woman to embrace Islam.
“I told them that I did not have the experience but they assured me the religious office and ustaz would support me. I only needed to help her recite the syahadah (declaration of faith),” she said.
Diana recalled one particularly moving case where a convert shared that he had long felt drawn to Islam.
“On the day he recited the syahadah, his friends travelled from Kelantan and Terengganu just to witness it,” she shared.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
