Parents’ Raya wish is that Sharlinie be returned home safely to them

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“PINK is her favourite colour and lemang is always what she wants when Hari Raya approaches.” So recalled Mohd Nashar Mat Hussain, 30, father of Sharlinie, who has been missing since Jan 9 last year.

“She likes pink. Whenever we shopped for Raya, she would have all her things in pink, be it her clothes or her shoes,” Nashar said in a telephone interview.

Towards the end of fasting month, Sharlinie, the youngest of three siblings, would pester her parents for lemang (sticky rice in bamboo).

“She would ask me and her mother for lemang, even when it wasn’t Hari Raya yet. That was her favourite,” Nashar said.

He said the household is a bit quiet without Sharlinie.

“It has been more than a year since she went missing. Her siblings do talk about her, but not as much as before.”

His wife, Suraya Ahmad, 28, has urged him to continue the search for Sharlinie with the help of mediators and bomohs.

“I do not have the money to do that. We’ve spent all our savings in searching for Sharlinie before. We need time to save some more,” said Nashar.

In the meantime, life for the family goes on as usual. What he earns now is just enough to feed the family and support the schooling needs of Sharlinie’s sisters, Nurul Amirah, 12 and Sharliena, nine.

Nashar said he has never lost hope in finding Sharlinie some day.

“My instinct says she still alive. I just wish the people who are keeping her will let her go to return safely to us.”

As for Sharlinie’s belongings, Nashar said her bicycle, which she loved most, was left behind in Taman Medan when the family moved back to his hometown in Kampung Pulut Dungun, Terengganu.

“We still have her clothes, but not many. The rest were never returned after we gave them to the mediators to use in their search for Sharlinie.”

Even though he now lives in Terengganu, he still calls the Petaling Jaya police headquarters to ask for updates on Sharlinie’s case.

“The last I called them was two weeks ago and they told me that there has been no progress.”

Nashar moved back to his hometown last September to start a new life after going through months of stress and media attention following Sharlinie’s suspected abduction.

Sharlinie, who turned six on Jan 30, was reported missing when she failed to return home after playing
with her sister at a playground in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya, at 11am.

Police conducted a massive search on her after her family lodged a missing person report. Her parents’ plight was splashed in the print and electronic media, with individuals and organisations offering monetary rewards for her safe return.

Up till today, there is no news of her whereabouts. As for Nashar, his Hari Raya wish is simple: that Sharlinie returns home safely.-MalayMail