JOHOR BARU: Police have solved a three-year-old muder of an 18-month old boy with the arrest of two suspects, including the boy’s father and uncle.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said that the suspects, aged 40 and 35 years old, respectively, were arrested around Masai between July 18 and July 22 this month.
“Our investigations showed that the 40-year-old father had allegedly sodomised his own son,” he said, adding that there were semen traces in the child’s anus when he was brought to Hospital Sultan Ismail at about 1.18am on Sept 13, 2023.
He added that the father was the one who brought the child to hospital but doctors suspected something amiss and alerted the police.
“The boy died on the same day at about 10.40am and the semen traces taken from the boy’s anus for analysis by the Chemistry Department were inconclusive at the time,” he said, adding that based on new leads, officers from the Seri Alam district police headquarters arrested the father and uncle.
Comm Ab Rahaman added that the father did not have a criminal records but the uncle had 13 previous criminal and drug-related offences and his urine screening returned positive for cannabis.
He said police also seized two mobile phones during the arrests.
"Based on the new findings, the case has been reclassified under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. The case was earlier investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001," he said.
Comm Ab Rahaman said both suspects were remanded until July 30 and Aug 1, respectively, before investigation papers were completed and submitted to the Johor Prosecution Director's Office on July 27.
He said statements had been recorded from 13 witnesses, including the victim's mother, who will testify as a prosecution witness.
Asked about the cause of death of the child, Comm Ab Rahaman said that it was believed to be blunt force trauma to the abdomen.
“There were also injuries to the waist and injuries to his anus,” he said, adding that the father would also face a charge under Section 292 of the Penal Code for possession of obscene material, which carries a jail term of up to three years, a fine, or both.
Comm Ab Rahaman urged the public not to spread speculation or unverified information that could interfere with court proceedings, warning that police would take firm action against anyone found violating the law.
