Foul play or misadventure?

Police task force to probe disappearance and death of little William

SUBANG JAYA: Police have formed a task force to investigate the disappearance and death of six-year-old William Yau Zhen Zhong.

It will look into various allegations and theories of what happened to the boy, including claims that he had been abused, said Subang Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Yahaya Ramli.

Theories rife on the social media and reported by the press include an allegation that the father had abused William and sought the help of mediums as the boy was believed to have brought bad luck to the family.

Commenting on allegations from William’s uncle that the father had abused the boy, ACP Yahaya said there were some marks on the body but it could not be ascertained whether he was abused or he injured himself because he was hyper active.

“We have not received any report in Shah Alamor Malacca that William was abused. We will question the uncle.

“It is unfair to judge or speculate on what could have happened. Let us investigate (first),” he told a press conference at the district police headquarters.

He added that police would investigate any conflicting statements made by the uncle and William’s parents, Yau Kok Kang, 32, and Goh Ying Ying, 26.

ACP Yahaya also said that a Bukit Aman child psychiatrist would interview William’s seven-year-old brother while the parents and other family members would be brought in for further questioning.

“We will do this after William’s funeral out of respect for the family,” he said, adding that more than 30 statements had been recorded so far.

He said the father’s initial statement was he had searched for William for 15 minutes before making a police report.

“If he had given conflicting statements, it could be because he was still in shock,” ACP Yahaya said.

He said police would track down the mediums that the father allegedly went to see about William.

ACP Yahaya said there were no suspects yet in the case as police were still investigating how the boy died, whether through foul play or misadventure.

Despite various theories of foul play, ACP Yahaya said that it was still possible the boy had fallen into a drain in Putra Heights, some 150m from where he disappeared on Jan 16.

He thus refuted an English daily report that the boy could not have been swept away from Bukit Lanchong to Kampung Sungai Sireh because of the existence of rubbish traps and river booms.

“Officials from the Drainage and Irrigation Department confirmed that it is possible for a boy to float over the booms during high tide and heavy rain.

“The rubbish traps and river booms are only on the surface of the water. The boy could have been submerged for three days before he was swept away,” he said.

ACP Yahaya appealed to the public not to jump to conclusions or speculate, saying it was still too early to determine what happened to William.