Murdered boy was hit on the chest

DISABLED: He also had fractured hand, burn marks, says district police chief

THE 11-year-old disabled boy, who was murdered in Mersing on Wednesday, may have been abused for the past year to the point that he suffered from a broken arm.

Police, who had arrested his mother, stepfather and uncle over the murder, confirmed that the boy died because of blunt force trauma to his chest.

The boy’s maternal grandfather, 47, said he noticed scalding on his grandson’s right hand the last time he met him at his daughter’s home in Kampung Bukit Tekedai during Hari Raya Haji.

“The boy had a broken arm the last time I saw him. I didn’t feel at ease when I saw that the boy’s right hand had scald marks. I have seen identical injuries at least three times in the past year.

“I did ask my grandson and my daughter, but my grandson seemed too afraid to tell me anything. My daughter said the boy fell at home and that he was suffering from eczema,” he said after his grandson’s funeral at the Kampung Teriang Muslim cemetery in Mersing.

The grandfather said the boy previously lived elsewhere before his 27-year-old homemaker mother took him to stay in Endau when he was six.

Mersing district police chief Deputy Superintendent Cyril Edward Nuing said a post-mortem revealed that the boy died due to blunt force trauma to the chest.

“The victim also had a fractured right palm and fingers, and burn marks on his body,” he said, adding that the boy lived with his mother, stepfather, teenage stepsister and uncle.

He said the boy had a learning disability and was a Year Five pupil at a special education school.

Meanwhile, the Johor Baru magistrate’s court registrar Faridatul Farrah Mohd Shukri granted a weeklong remand order for the boy’s mother and the boy’s 32-year-old uncle, who is a labourer.

On Thursday, the Kota Tinggi magistrate’s court granted a remand order until Oct 26 for the boy’s 27year-old stepfather, who is also a labourer.