KOTA TINGGI: A five-year-old girl, who was allegedly thrown into a river by her uncle in Kampung Padang on Monday (Sept 21), had returned to Tanjung Sedili with her father to collect medicine before the incident.
Sedili assemblyman Muszaidi Makmor said the girl had travelled from Muar with her 40-year-old father, who runs a food stall there.
He said the suspect had also followed them to Tanjung Sedili before allegedly acting erratically.
“Sadly, the suspect, who is believed to have mental health issues, acted out of character,” Muszaidi said.
He added that he visited the girl’s father at the Tanjung Sedili Health Clinic on Monday afternoon and extended his condolences to the family.
“I hope the family will be given strength to endure this very difficult time,” he said.
According to Sinar Harian, Puteri Nur Afiyah Qalesya Mustafa was believed to have drowned after allegedly being thrown into the river by her uncle in Kampung Padang, Tanjung Sedili.
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Her grandmother, Mahani, said the family had breakfast together before the girl asked for permission to play outside.
“Puteri was playing on the swing when I started looking for her. I asked her father, but he did not know where she was either.
“I had a bad feeling, so I asked my daughter-in-law to come with me to the river, where we saw Puteri’s slippers on the riverbank,” she said.
Mahani said her granddaughter was later found face down on the riverbank, about 300m from the house.
Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Yusof Othman said the suspect was arrested after police received a report at about 9.30am.
He said the suspect was believed to have thrown the girl into the river before going on a rampage and chasing the victim’s father while armed with a parang.
A remand order has been issued from Tuesday (Sept 22) until Sept 28 to facilitate investigations under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
