Five years ago, 29-year-old staff nurse Norhayati Awang was found brutally slain at the Kuala Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital.
Norhayati’s body, with her throat slit and stabbed multiple times, was found in a car after an apparent fight with a man on Aug 13, 2005.
But till today, the case remains unsolved. No one has been charged.
Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo today called on the Attorney-General Abdul Ghani Patail to explain the delay in ordering an inquest into the woman’s death.
“It was no doubt a suspicious death and investigations had commenced probably under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, but nothing came out of it. On Oct 1, 2007 the police announced that a special task force would be set up to further investigate… after another three years and only after the matter was raised by the New Straits Times, the A-G orders an inquest into the case,” said Gobind.
Gobind added that it is important that inquests are ordered and disposed of quickly because the longer the delay, the more difficult it is to to locate evidence and for witnesses to remember important details.
“…delays like these are unacceptable… the A-G cannot be allowed to remain silent. He owes the Malaysian public an explanation,” said the lawyer-politician.
“Are there real good reasons for the delay or is it true that no serious investigations have been conducted into the case of Norhayati? Is the inquest merely a way by which the police can ‘justify’ their inaction over the years?” asked Gobind.
Mother’s hope
In an article in the New Straits Times last week, Norhayati’s mother Zainun Harun, 56, a housewife in Kampung Limbong, Paka, spoke of her ardent hope that the authorities will find some answers and solve the case.
In her first person account, Zainun was quoted as saying: “Norhayati, the apple of my eye, was dead. She was found slumped in the co-driver’s seat, murdered in her sister’s Perodua Kancil… what made her murder baffling was the fact that it happened while there was still light, about 7pm, right at the hospital car park.
“Our family cannot accept that to this day. Also, no one has been made to answer for Norhayati’s senseless death although a suspect was caught. A security guard had even seen Norhayati and the suspect in a heated argument at the car park just before the incident.”
Previously, it was reported that police had detained a suspect in his early 30s, believed to be Norhayati’s boyfriend, about two hours after the incident was reported by the hospital guard.
Media reports also quoted police as saying that six people were remanded to assist investigations. However, all were released after no evidence was found to link any of them to the case. -FMT
