Zayn Rayyan murder: police identify two child witnesses

PETALING JAYA – Police have identified two child witnesses in their ongoing investigations into the murder of 6-year-old autistic boy Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matiin.

According to Selangor district police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan, the witnesses had seen Zayn at the second and third levels of Block R at Idaman Apartments on December 5, the day Zayn was reported missing. 

Hussein said that the witnesses were identified as a result of the mass screening police had previously conducted at the apartment complex in Damansara Damai, here.

“A total of 86 statements have been taken, and more will have to be recorded. Including the 228 DNA samples previously collected, 10 more have been taken, bringing the total to 238,” he added in a message to the media. 

During a surprise mass DNA collection operation on December 9, police secured the biological samples of 228 residents with the help of 278 officers divided into 90 teams.

Meanwhile, over at Idaman Apartments, police were spotted entering and leaving Block R as members of the media camped out nearby the location where Zayn’s body was found. 

A source close to the investigation told the press that the Forensic Unit team had today done a “reconstruction” of events surrounding Zayn’s death.

The reconstruction was conducted based on statements from the two child witnesses, said to be aged six and nine.

As of press time, the Forensic Unit team has left the area. It is believed that they will resume operations on another day.

Previously, Zayn’s paternal grandfather, Zahari Mohd Reba, told the press that a group of children had seen his grandson running to the third floor of Block R, which is where the child stayed with his parents and younger brother. 

Today marks the eighth day of investigations into Zayn’s murder after his body was found by a riverbank about 100m from his home on the night of December 6.

An autopsy on his body then revealed injuries on his neck and defensive wounds on his body, leading to police reclassifying the case from sudden death to murder. 

Yesterday, police confirmed finding a sock in the stream where Zayn’s body was found. A laboratory analysis is believed to be underway to ascertain whether the sock belonged to the child. 

Earlier on, police sought the help of the Fire and Rescue Department as well as the Selangor Irrigation and Drainage Department to drain the water from the stream in order to look for evidence. – December 14, 2023