Body of student dumped in river
RAUB: “I was unable to look at my younger brother’s body, which was in a terrible state. How could he (murder suspect) do this to him (brother) — beat and throw him into the river?
“Our parents are traumatised and find it difficult to accept what has happened,” said a distraught S. Navanitha, 24, the older sister of a Form 5 student who was beaten to death and dumped in Sungai RTP Lembah Klau here.
The rotting body of D. Yugendran, 17, from Simpang Kallang, was found floating in the river during search operation by the Fire and Rescue Department at 3.15pm yesterday.
Navanitha said at midnight on Sept 8, her brother informed her that he was going to send his friend to Taman Mas after paying his last respects to a deceased relative.
“At that time, our mother did not suspect anything amiss. She was puzzled when he did not come home several hours later.
“His friends’ messages to him also went unanswered.
“We tried looking for Yugendran in places that he liked to go, and asked his friends about his whereabouts. Nobody knew where he was,” she said.
Navanitha said the family only knew what happened to Yugendran when they were informed by police that they had arrested a man, who allegedly admitted to beating her younger brother and throwing his body into the river.
She said police requested the family to identify the body.
“My father went to the site of the incident. I was devastated when my father told me that the body was that of Yugendran. He identified based on the pants worn by the deceased.
“Yugendran did not have any enemies. He was very sweet and close to our parents, and wellliked by friends and teachers in school.”
She said her brother did not act strangely before the incident, although he did mention that he wanted to work in Genting Highlands after completing his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination.
Raub police chief Superintendent Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu said they detained a 21-year-old man on Monday to assist investigation into the case.
He said investigations revealed that the man, from Bayan Lepas, Penang, had followed Yugendran and attacked him.
“The victim ran towards the Sungai RTP Lembah Klau riverbank, where the suspect hit him again with a piece of wood. He lost consciousness. He was then pushed into the river.
“We believe the victim was alive when the suspect pushed him into the river,” he said.
Zahari said the suspect indicated to the authorities where the victim was pushed into the river and a team from the Raub Fire and Rescue Department launched a search operation.
He said the body was found about 300m from the site of the incident. He said police believed revenge could be a motive for the attack as the victim had allegedly assaulted the man in the past.