KULIM: The farmer remanded over the death of two boys after eating crackers laced with rat poison in Kampung Padang Ubi, Labu Besar early last month, has denied any link to the case.
In breaking his silence for the first time since the tragic incident, Uzir Shawafi Hasbullah, 34, refuted allegations that the victims had obtained the poisoned crackers from the fence near his home, located some 100 metres away from the boys' house.
Although he did not deny that he had put poisoned crackers on the fence to trap wild animals, Uzir claimed that the boys could not have reached the packet of crackers from his fence.
"The packets were tied to the side fencing that is covered by thick bushes. There is no way that the boys could have wandered past the bushes to get to the fence.
"I had also tied the packets about 1.37 metres from the ground, which is impossible for children aged 3 and 2 to reach," he said during an interview at his home which is surrounded by an orchard.
He dismissed the allegation by the victims' grandmother, who is also his relative, that the crackers had originated from his fence.
He also claimed the existence of a WhatsApp voice message by the victims' grandmother saying that the boys had found the poison-laced crackers at a nearby oil palm estate.
According to the audio, obtained by the NST, a woman was heard saying that the boys had gone out with her husband.
"The boys followed their grandfather to check on the cows and buffaloes at a nearby estate. Then the grandfather told the boys to go home.
"They were walking home (and found) the thing (crackers packets) tied to an oil palm tree. They probably could reach the packets. They got it from there.
"I saw the elder brother was holding the packets when they arrived home," the woman was heard saying in the voice note.
Yesterday, Uzir uploaded a Facebook post, venting his frustration at being remanded for eight days following the incident.
The post, which was accompanied by a nine-minute and 30-second video of him denying the allegations, has since received over 67,000 reactions and has been shared nearly 53,000 times as of 2pm today.
In the video, Uzir wanted to know why the victims' mother and grandparents were not arrested for neglecting the children following the incident.
"I just want to clear my name. Their grandmother has slandered me. I was unfairly accused and heavily criticised by social media users based on the false claims made by the victims' grandmother.
"It is unfair that I spent eight days in the lock-up while the boys' legal guardians are not being investigated for negligence.
"In fact, I feel very sorry for the boys. I am also a father of two young boys about the same age. The incident could have been averted if the family had taken good care of them," claimed Uzir.
Uzir, who was released on police bail on July 17, however, stressed that he did not blame the police for remanding him as they were just doing their job.
On the use of poison rat to trap the long-tailed macaques, Uzir claimed that the farmers in the village had no other option after the Wildlife Department allegedly did not respond to their complaints.
"I lodged a complaint in 2021, but no action was taken. There are some 300 macaques creating a menace in the village, destroying our plants and fruits.
"We resorted to using poisoned-laced crackers as the last resort, as the cost to build a cage trap is expensive," said Uzir, who said he had built one at a cost of RM500.
He said it was only on Aug 8, that the department finally sent him a trap, following the incident. Uzir has since stopped using the poison-laced crackers.