KUALA LUMPUR – The accident involving the tragic death of a Form 5 student in Jalan Taman Jati, Ipoh, who is believed to have been run down by a plainclothes policeman, yesterday, became the talk of netizens across social media.
Most commenters sympathised with the victim, identified as Muhammad Zaharif Affendi Muhd Zamrie, 17 – with many social media users expressing their anger towards the suspect for his reckless actions.
The incident prompted an individual claiming to be a witness to come forward and share a story via Facebook about the incident, which took place at noon yesterday.
Through a screenshot shared by the public that went viral on Facebook, the individual claimed the policeman had chased the victim through the housing estate before the victim eventually gave up.
Zaharif, the unidentified individual said, had slowed down his motorcycle, but the policeman ran over the victim with his vehicle.
“I witnessed the situation in front of my eyes, the police chased the victim from the housing estate until the T-junction, when the victim gave up.
“The teen slowed down his motorcycle, the distance between the motorcycle and the police was four to five metres. He slowed down his motorcycle hoping that the car behind him would slow down.
“But the car rammed into the victim directly. Two (of the car’s) right tires crushed the victim’s right abdomen.
“I was a witness right in front of the accident. I was near the road shoulder (at the time of the incident),” he said.
Through video clips of the accident, which were shared by several netizens on Facebook, it is learnt that the senior police personnel who was dressed in plain clothes at the time of the incident was driving a Perodua Ativa car, believed to belong to his wife who is also a teacher at the school where the victim studied.
Netizens shared that the incident happened after the driver was irritated with the loud noise the victim’s motorcycle exhaust made when the teen was riding his Yamaha motorcycle home from school.
The irate policeman then chased the motorcycle ridden by the victim for about a kilometre before running over him from behind.
As a result of the accident, the victim, who was still dressed in his school sports attire, fell off the motorcycle and was dragged by the Ativa.
Witnesses of the incident also said that the policeman had then turned back his car to the location to see the condition of the victim, but left after realising the presence of the crowd.
The victim, however, was confirmed dead at the scene. His body was sent to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital, here for an autopsy.
Earlier, Scoop reported about a video that went viral, showing the victim’s sister, a nurse, crying while trying to conduct cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the victim.
The nurse, Nur Zamani Muhd Zamri, 28, who happened to be near the scene, asked medical personnel from the ambulance to hurry while saying “Come here, fast. Not responsive… not responsive… faster”.
The victim’s father, Muhd Zamri, who was also at the scene, passed out after seeing the condition of his son lying on the ground.
It was later reported that Nur Zamani was upset with the driver’s action, which was deemed intentional.
“Even if he did something wrong, come and see my parents. Even if you want to put him in the lockup, it’s fine. But he does not have the right to do that to my brother,” she said.
Earlier, the media reported that a senior police officer was detained to assist in the investigation of a fatal accident involving the student, yesterday.
Ipoh District police chief, assistant commissioner Yahaya Hassan, said the senior police officer from the Kedah police contingent will be remanded today for further investigations. – December 16, 2023