KUALA LUMPUR: Behind the quiet figure of a portrait artist, few would guess that the pencil in his hand once helped the police track down criminals and solve crimes.
For Baim Zakaria, 60, a full-time professional portrait artist, every sketch of a suspect’s face is not merely a drawing on paper or a paid commission, but a small effort to help victims of crime obtain justice.
“This work comes with risks. At first there was fear and doubt but I remembered what a police officer once told me.
“He said I was not merely helping the police but the nation.
“That gave me the courage to take on the challenge to help,” he said when met at his studio at Central Market here.
Baim’s ability to capture facial expressions caught the attention of investigators in 1988, when they needed help producing sketches of suspects or photofits based on the recollections of victims and witnesses.
He said that his drawings are not merely about identifying a suspect’s facial structure but also understanding the suspect’s character based on information provided by victims and police.
He has come across many victims over the years but one case stands out – a 17-year-old girl who was raped and later gave birth.
According to Baim, the girl had only met the suspect twice and did not have any photographs of the man.
“Little by little, she told me what she could remember.
“In about three hours, I tried to form the suspect’s face based on her memory and also from the baby’s features.
“When I showed her the sketch, she said it was indeed the man,” he said.
In another case, he helped sketch three individuals believed to be involved in the abduction of a teenage girl who managed to escape her captors.
“The victim remembered their faces, so I drew the three abductors based on what she described.
“I also tried to identify their facial character whether they looked fierce, serious or frightening,” he said.
One of the biggest challenges he faced was limited information, requiring him to rely on instinct based on the suspect’s body shape and movements.
Baim said he usually learned of the outcome of his drawings from reports in newspapers or when victims returned to thank him.
“The police usually do not inform me about the outcome but there were victims who came back to thank me.
“That alone gives me satisfaction as an artist,” he said.
Due to the advancement of technology and artificial intelligence (AI), the father of four said his talent is no longer in demand.
Baim is not perturbed by this.
“If AI technology is faster and helps the police solve cases, I have no problem with that.
“What matters is that the cases are solved,” he said.
