Lost boy found
R. Saccty, the only child of PKR’S Batu Uban assemblyman S. Raveentharan, looking lost at a police station in George Town yesterday. He had left his house alone and walked about 8km to Komtar because he was lonely and bored. The 11-year-old didn’t know how to get back home and was taken by a security guard to the police station — nine hours after leaving home.
GEORGE TOWN: The 11-year-old son of a local assemblyman, who went missing for some nine hours before being found, claims he went out walking as he was lonely.
R. Saccty, the only child of Batu Uban assemblyman S. Raveentharan, said his father had been very busy since becoming an elected representative in 2008.
“It’s boring at home. There’s no one for me to play with,” he said before burying his face in his father’s side.
He was speaking to reporters at the Jelutong police station where he and Raveentharan had come to give a statement regarding the former’s disappearance on Monday.
Saccty was reported missing at about 4pm on Monday when he failed to return home after attending school in Batu Lanchang.
He was finally located at the George Town district police headquarters in Patani Road after 11pm.
Asked if he would prefer his father to stay out of the next general election, the Year Five boy gave two small nods.
Saccty said he had asked his bus driver to drop him at the Gembira Parade shopping complex near his Island Park home after school.
“I went to the public toilet to change out of my school uniform.
“Then, I dropped my bag and uniform at home before walking to Jalan Gangsa for lunch,” he said.
After finishing lunch, Saccty said he walked to Komtar where he stayed until deciding to return home after 9pm.
He said he lost his way but ran into a security guard after walking past Penang Times Square in Jalan Datuk Keramat.
“The guard wanted to take me to the balai (police station), but I said I didn’t want to go.
“In the end, he took me by motorcycle to the big police station (on Patani Road),” he said.
Saccty said he was not tired after long walk to Komtar but he did feel hungry as he only had enough money on him to buy lunch.
Raveentharan said he could not deny that his frequent absence from home had contributed to Saccty going wandering.
“I’m not going to punish him. There’s no point, I should punish myself (instead).
“Now that I am an assemblyman, I have state, constituency and party work to do and there are only 24 hours in a day.
“My family members are the ones who suffer the most,” he said, adding that he was a single parent.
Describing his son as a “good kid”, Raveentharan said Saccty had been particularly lonely after the death of his dog in June last year.
Asked if he was reconsidering defending his seat in the next general election, Raveentharan said he would leave that to the PKR leadership.