KUALA LUMPUR – Police have not ruled out detaining more people to aid their investigation into the murder of autistic child Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matiin in December last year.
This comes after police arrested the 6-year-old child’s parents yesterday and remanded them for seven days, beginning today.
Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said whether other individuals are arrested depends on the outcome of the police’s interrogation of the parents, who might be brought back to the location where Zayn’s body was found in Damansara Damai’s Idaman Apartments.
“What the police manage to get out of the parents during questioning will determine whether we will need to go back to the location or if other arrests will be made,” Hussein told Scoop.
“Whether we’ll bring them both to Idaman Apartments or the location where the victim’s body was found to aid our investigation during the remand period also depends on the interrogation results.”
He also stressed that the remand against Zayn’s parents is to assist the police investigation.
On December 5, last year, Zayn’s mother reported him missing as they were making their way back home to their unit in Idaman Apartments. He was found dead near a stream about 200m from his apartment block the next day.
While his death was initially classified as an instance of sudden death, murder was later suspected as an autopsy revealed injuries on his neck and body consistent with self-defence, leading to an investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
In February, Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said police have never halted their investigation into the child’s murder.
He added that despite challenges faced during probes, including the yet-to-be located primary crime scene, police have persisted and scrutinised every piece of information received to solve the case.
Meanwhile, the lawyer representing Zayn’s parents said his clients’ “sudden” arrest was due to new developments in the investigation, including the discovery of fresh evidence. – June 2, 2024