JOHOR BARU: Police have solved a case where an 18-month-old boy was murdered three years ago, with the arrest of two suspects, including the boy's father and uncle.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said the arrests were made following fresh developments in the case, including the discovery of pornographic images and videos on a mobile phone seized from one of the suspects.
He said 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 allegedly sodomised his own son," he said, adding that there were traces of semen found in the child when he was brought to Hospital Sultan Ismail at 1.18am on Sept 13, 2023.
He said the father brought the child to hospital but doctors suspected something amiss and alerted the police.
"The boy died the same day at about 10.40am and the Chemistry Department's analysis on the semen traces 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 record but the uncle had 13 previous criminal and drug-related offences and his tested positive for cannabis.
He said police also seized two mobile phones.
"Based on 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.
He said statements had been recorded from 13 witnesses, including the victim's mother.
Asked about the cause of death of the child, Comm Ab Rahaman said that it is 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 will also face a charge under Section 292 of the Penal Code for possession of obscene material.
