Orang Asli parents burst into tears at hospital morgue ahead of funeral

The families of the four Orang Asli pupils who died‎ after going missing in the jungles of Kelantan have claimed the remains of their children from the hospital early this morning. The parents of ‎Ika Ayel, 9, Haikal Yaacob, 8, Linda Rosli, 8 and Juvina David, 7 arrived at the Gua Musang Hospital at 9am, accompanied by activist lawyer Siti Zabedah Kasim. They entered the morgue for the final identification before they signed documents for the release of the bodies. Haikal's mother Midah Angah, and three of his siblings, burst into tears as they were shown his coffin and allowed to look at his remains. Siti Zabedah later told The Malaysian Insider that the parents were not happy with the date of death recorded on the death certificate. "They (doctors) put the date when the body was brought to the hospital. But we know they died much earlier than that. "It's like they think they can put any date they like and no one will question them," she said as the parents waited to sign the documents. However, the pathologist, who performed the autopsy on the children, later clarified that the official post-mortem report would contain a more accurate time and date of death, she said. Siti Zabedah said she had managed to collect more than the RM10,000 she had appealed for a week ago to help families with the funeral expense. "People have been brilliant. We have collected more than what we asked for and we will spend everything," she added. Siti Zabedah started the donation drive to enable the families to conduct the funerals of their children according to the Temiyar Orang Asli customs. Around 10am, the families entered the morgue once again to place flowers on four small-sized coffins. Some 20 minutes later, the white coffins were wheeled out and were loaded onto 4WD vehicles. The funeral is expected to take place this afternoon in Kampung Penad, an interior village, four hours from Gua Musang. Ika, Haikal, Linda and Juvina went missing on August 23 from their school hostel in Pos Tohoi along with three of their friends Mirsudiar Aluj, 11, Norieen Yaacob, 10 and Sasa Sobrie, 8, apparently fearing reprimand after being caught swimming in the river near the school.‎ Mirsudiar and Norieen (Haikal's older sister) were found alive in a malnourished state on October 9. Police said they have received some new information on Sasa who was still missing, after interviewing Norieen and Miksudiar at Raja Perempuan Zainab II (HRPZII) Hospital in Kota Baru. – October 25, 2015.]]>