Neighbours report hearing loud arguments, child crying from house before murdered six-year-old disappeared

JOHOR BARU: What was initially thought to be a normal domestic dispute between a husband and wife has now taken a dark turn after the body of a six-year-old boy, reported missing last week, was found buried in Rompin, Negri Sembilan.

Kamarudin Abdullah, 47, who stays near the victim’s family, said he often heard the sound of a child crying and loud arguments between the victim’s parents from the house in Seri Alam here.

“The victim’s parents would argue quite often. When they did, the whole neighbourhood could hear it, including the child crying as well.

“They mostly kept to themselves. The man did not mix with neighbours and rarely spoke unless it was something important. I was shocked when I heard the boy had died,” he said when met at the residential area here on Tuesday (July 29).

Kamarudin said some of the child’s family members and relatives were seen returning to the house on Monday (July 28) night but left a few hours later.

He added that the couple had not been staying at the house for about a month and would only show up occasionally and always separately.

“We have also not seen the victim for weeks prior to the tragic incident,” he said adding that the family of three moved into the housing area about a year ago.

A check at the house showed it to be unoccupied, with the front gate left open and no sign of residents.

Earlier, a man who lodged a police report claiming his six-year-old son went missing at a kopitiam in Bukit Indah was remanded for seven days after the boy was found dead in Rompin.

Iskandar Puteri OCPD Asst Comm M. Kumarasan said the 36-year-old father was arrested on July 24 and had been remanded until Thursday (July 31) to assist in investigations.

“The suspect had lodged a report at about 2.15am on July 24, claiming that his son had gone missing the day before while left alone in a parked car at Bukit Indah,” he said.

ACP Kumarasan added the suspect alleged that he had briefly left the child in the vehicle around 6pm on July 23 to buy food, but when he returned, the boy was gone.

He said police began investigating the case under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 for child neglect.

ACP Kumarasan, however, said further investigation led police to the discovery of a child’s body in Rompin, over 200km away from where the report was made.

“Based on information gathered during questioning, we believe the body is that of the missing child,” he said.

He added that the case has since been referred to Jempol police district headquarters in Negri Sembilan for further investigation.

ACP Kumarasan also confirmed that the suspect is now being probed for lodging a false police report, with investigations underway under Section 182 of the Penal Code.