BAGAN SERAI: "When I contacted him to fetch my son and pass him some food, the man told me 'don't disturb, your child is sleeping peacefully'."
That was what a 38-year-old woman said about a conversation she allegedly had with her boyfriend who had been taking care of her late two-year-old son.
The toddled had died on Friday after being under the care of the man and his family at the latter's home in Taman Serai Permai Bagan Serai.
The woman said her boyfriend had fetched her seventh child on Tuesday.
"This was the third time my son was brought to that house."
She said the man and his family were temporarily babysitting her son.
"His house is located two roads away from my family's house," she said when met after her son's burial at the Matang Gerdu Muslim cemetery here.
She said prior to the incident, she would fetch her son on the same day she dropped the toddler off at her boyfriend's house.
"On Tuesday, he (the boyfriend) came over to fetch my son to bring him to his house. He told me that he would take care of him.
"The next day (Wednesday), I contacted him to ask about my son, and he told me that my son liked staying there. I could still hear my son's voice in the background.
"On Thursday, I called him again and I told him I wanted to hear my son's voice but he told me not to disturb because my son was sleeping."
Suspected something amiss, she rushed to the man's house and found the gate and door locked.
"I contacted him again to tell him I wanted to deliver some food to my son but he became angry.
"Soon after that, I received a call from him asking me to immediately go to Bagan Serai Health Clinic. When I arrived at that place, my son was shrouded in batik cloth and was lifeless."
She was devastated to find out that her son had been abused.
"I put my trust in him with a hope that my son would receive the love of a father. What he did destroyed my heart. I cannot forgive him. I want him to receive a heavy punishment for what he did to my son," she said, adding she had her son when she was married to her third husband.
The woman said she befriended the man a few years ago. She pleaded with the public to stop spreading any photos of her late son's condition while at the Bagan Serai health clinic,
The toddler was buried at the Matang Gerdu Muslim Cemetery at 5.20pm yesterday.
Police have arrested a 26-year-old widower and his parents - aged 62 and 57- after the toddler under their care died of severe injuries and burn marks in Bagan Serai, on Friday.
Bagan Serai police chief Superintendent Juna Yusoff said the victim, believed to be the child of a neighbour, was found unconscious by the widower's parents who later sent the child to a clinic in Bagan Serai.
He said at about 6pm, the parents of the widower found the victim who was under the care of their son, in an unconscious state with injuries and burn marks.
Juna said in a statement that upon reaching the clinic, the victim had already died. He said according to the post-mortem report, the toddler had died of injuries to his head, caused by a blunt object while there were injuries all over the body, plus burn marks caused by a hot object. There were also injuries to the child's rectum.
Investigations are under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.