Court to decide whether Zayn's mum was negligent tomorrow

The mother of the deceased six-year-old, Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matin, will learn her fate over a child neglect charge tomorrow. 

According to the judiciary’s e-filing system, Petaling Jaya Sessions Court judge Syahliza Warnoh will deliver her verdict at 9am. 

Ismanira Abdul Manaf, 30, was initially charged together with her husband, Zaim Ikhwan Zahari, on June 13 last year, where they were alleged to have neglected Zayn to the point that it may cause him physical harm. 

They were accused of committing the crime at their house in Apartment Idaman, Damansara Damai, between 12pm, Dec 5, and 9.55pm the next day in 2023. 

The charges were filed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which carries a maximum of 20 years in jail or RM50,000 fine or both. The couple had pleaded not guilty to the charge at that time.

Syahliza acquitted Zaim on July 21 this year, after finding the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the father despite the testimonies of 28 prosecution witnesses.

However, the court found that a prima facie case was established against Ismanira and called the mother of two to defend herself the same day.

Ismanira called four witnesses for her defence, including her father-in-law, Zahari Reba, and her best friend, Umi Syafiqah Rohizal.

The defence, led by lawyer Haresh Mahadevan, wrapped up its case on Aug 5, after six days of trial.

Zayn, who was autistic, went missing on Dec 5 and was found dead near a stream at his house the next day, with injuries found on his neck and body.

A post-mortem on his remains showed that he was murdered.

Testimonies in court

The testimonies from several witnesses during the trial had raised some eyebrows.

These include the case’s investigating officer, Nina Syamimi Syansuddin, saying on Feb 5 that Ismanira was “emotionless” when the police recorded her statement regarding her son’s disappearance.

Zaidi Abu Hassan, a Bukit Aman cybercrime analyst, testified on April 7 that he had uncovered several WhatsApp messages from Zayn’s parents’ mobile phone.

Among the messages uncovered were “Zayn hilang” (Zayn is missing), “dia lari” (he ran away), “lantaklah nak hidup ke nak mati” (I don’t care whether he wants to live or die).

In her defence, Ismanira said on July 21 that the messages were sent in a moment of emotional distress and panic.

On July 23, she testified that she had never brought Zayn to the garden area, where his body was found, and that she had focused on searching for Zayn around her house and within a 500m radius from her apartment complex.

Child psychologist, Dr Noor Aishah Rosli, similarly testified on Aug 5 that the messages sent by Ismanira to her husband likely were not ill-intentioned, but were an outburst of emotions.

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