Hostage’s mother grateful her daughter is safe

KOTA KINABALU: Herna Hashim, the mother of the two-year-old girl held hostage for five hours by an unknown man at the densely populated Taman Telipok Ria low-cost flats, near here, is drained but grateful no serious harm has befallen her daughter.

The child, identified only as Nur, is recuperating from slight cuts on her neck and an injury to her foot caused by splinters of broken plates hurled by the suspect during the Sunday incident.

Herna’s stepsister Norfatihah Nasir, 15, said they were told that Nur was in a stable condition, though doctors at the Likas Women and Children’s Hospital were looking at injuries on her leg.

Herna, 28, a mother of six and married to a restaurant worker, has been at Nur’s side at the hospital after she was dramatically rescued by the police who shot dead the hostage taker, in his 30s, at around 5.35pm, ending a tense standoff since 12.30pm that day.

“She is tired but very happy that her daughter is safe,” said Norfatihah, adding that Nur was the fifth child.

Despite the hostage drama with a stranger inside a fourth floor apartment, Nur never cried even though the blade of a knife cut into her neck every time the hostage taker moved to ward off any rescue attempts by the police or residents.

Norfatihah, who lives with her stepsister’s family in the flat, said Herna was breastfeeding her eightmonth-old baby in the house when the suspect grabbed Nur who was playing with her toys on the corridor outside their home.

“Herna was terrified ... and everyone was trying to rescue Nur. It was really scary,” recalled Norfatihah.

Life among residents at the flats was back to normal after police wrapped up their investigation at the scene during the wee hours yesterday.

Even the suspect’s identity remains a mystery.

The suspect is said to have uttered the name “Rashid” once when police negotiators tried to get infor- mation from him.

“We want to know who he is and how he is connected to this incident,” said Sabah police commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah.

“He is not known to the victim’s family or the neighbours.”

He added that they would go through the contact details in the man’s phone to unearth his identity.

He also said blood samples had been taken from the dead suspect to establish whether he was high on drugs.

The suspect is believed to be a foreigner as he only spoke Suluk language (mainly used by Filipinos) during the incident, he said.

Omar said there would be more patrols at the densely populated residential area.