MELAKA - The father of a child who was strangled to death by his elder brother never thought that the last memory he would have of his child was of them cheerfully dining and laughing a day before the incident.
Najli Yakob, 42, said that the victim Muhammad Haziq Damiri Najli, nine, was indeed close to his 14-year-old eldest brother, but the teen's behaviour had changed after allegedly being a victim of bullying at a hostel since last year.
Najli who works as a masseuse claimed that his son had previously told him about being bullied which he believed to have caused him to experience deep trauma.
He admitted that this was not the first time the teen had strangled members of the family including his wife who serves as a nurse in Hospital Melaka.
"He (the elder brother) once told me that he was strangled and splashed with water while he sleeping at the hostel that even a police report was filed, I'am sure he was not aware of what had been done to his younger brother due to him experiencing deep trauma and hurt that has been surpressed for a long time.
"He had admitted that he had been punched, kicked with boots, but after a year, he no longer mentioned the name of the two students because he did not want to be hurt again," he said at his home in Kampung Bukit Piatu on Wednesday night.
He said that although he had accepted the younger child's passing, he hoped that the two bullies would be punished so that no more students would become victims and would have to experience the trauma that his son had to go through.
The father of four went on to say that all had seemed normal and the family seemed happy when they went on holiday together in Kuala Lumpur
"I feel guilty for leaving the two of them together. I became weak and fragile after my wife told me that my son had passed," he said in anguish.
The body was taken to his grandfather's house in Kampungku Sayang, Bukit Piatu to be buried at the Bukit Piatu Islamic cemetery.
On Wednesday, Sinar had reported that a nine-year-old boy had died after allegedly being strangled by his 14-year-old brother at 12pm in Kampung Bukit Piatu.
The victim's neighbour who was also a witness Qhurun Ain Johani, 31, said she had found out about the incident from the victim's mother.