A different kind of drama unfolded in the Altantuya murder trial today when prosecution witness Shaariibuu Setev claimed from the witness stand that he was assaulted and harassed by Abdul Razak Baginda's wife.

Shaariibuu, the second prosecution witness, said Mazlina Makhzan ( photo ) had kicked him this morning.

He also claimed that she had also punched him in the stomach as she passed by him during a break this morning.

Shaariibuu added that Mazlina had been harassing him since the beginning of the murder trial of his daughter Altantuya.

"The last incident was just now, before the break, she hit my body," he said drawing protests from Abdul Razak's family members who had attended court since the trial began on Monday.

After hearing his complaints, Shah Alam High Court judge Mohd Zaki Md Yasin ordered that the families of Abdul Razak Baginda and Shaariibuu Setev be kept apart.

Karpal Singh, Setev's lawyer, described the attack on his client as amounting to contempt of court and intimidation of a witness.

"The harassment was in the form of an attack - by way of a punch in the stomach with a fist and a kick in the shin," he told AFP . "A fair trial includes protection for witnesses."

When met outside the court, Mazlina denied harassing or assaulting Shaariibuu.

"What a lie," she told reporters who approached her for comments.

In tears

Earlier in the day, Shaariibuu became emotional and wept after he was shown his daughter's photo.

"She is Altantuya", he said in the Mongolian language. He then took off his spectacles to wipe his tears before his words were interpreted into English.

He also took a swipe at various media reports that had labelled Altantuya as 'a Mongolian woman".

He said many people had reported and called her a Mongolian woman "but if you want me to mention her name, I will."

Justice Mohd Zaki then allowed a 30-minute recess to enable Shaariibuu to calm down before cross-examination by the defence.

Cousin's testimony

In the afternoon session, Altantuya's cousin Namiraa Gerelmaa, 26, took the stand and told the court that she had accompanied Altantuya to Kuala Lumpur to look for Abdul Razak.

She added that Altantuya then had left their hotel on her own to look for Abdul Razak at his house.

Namiraa said that Altantuya had then called her to inform that she had reached Abdul Razak's house in Jalan Setiawangsa in Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.

However she added that was the last she heard from Altantuya. She said she was unable to contact her cousin about an hour later. Namiraa could not recall when this took place.

In the dock are Chief Insp Azilah Hadri, 30, and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, 35, charged with murdering Altantuya, 28, at a location between lots 12843 and 16735 in Mukim Bukit Raja here between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year.

Political analyst Abdul Razak, 46, is charged with abetting them the previous day.