KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 – Nurain Hasnorizal, the mother of the two brothers currently in critical condition after eating snacks believed to have been poisoned to catch monkeys, said both were still unconscious.
In conversation with the Malaysian tabloid Harian Metro Yesterday, 25-year-old Nurain said doctors had no hope of her eldest son’s recovery while the younger one was in a coma.
“His blood pressure is also low and if they continue with the treatment, his kidney condition may worsen,” she was quoted as saying of the eldest son when met at Penang Hospital.
“He underwent a CT scan today and is still in a coma,” the factory worker added, referring to the younger son.
Yesterday, police said three-year-old Muhammad Akil Syauqi and two-year-old Muhammad Luth Syauqi Abdul Rahman were in critical condition after eating snacks suspected of being laced with rat poison at Kampung Padang Ubi in Kulim.
Nurain reported that during the incident, she noticed her children entering the house and that the two suffered a seizure shortly thereafter.
“I saw a plastic bag of snacks and was sure they had eaten the crackers, which were mixed with rat poison, which locals often use to catch monkeys,” she told the newspaper.
In a separate report, the brothers’ grandmother, Saadiah Yaacob, 62, said she was angry with the orchard’s owner because the snack was hanging on a low chain-link fence and was within easy reach of her grandson.
Saadiah described the incident to Harian Metro, saying the two siblings initially followed their grandfather, 53-year-old Muhammad Nazar Abdullah, to look for cows in an orchard not far from their house.
She said that shortly afterwards, the two siblings happily returned home with two packets of snacks tied together with string.
“I did not see them eating the snacks because they immediately went to their mother’s room, who was sleeping after returning from a night shift, and I then went to a nearby rubber plantation.
“Shortly afterwards, I saw an ambulance drive into the area of the house and a neighbor told me that my two grandchildren had already been taken to the hospital,” she was quoted as saying.
Saadiah said she immediately returned home and remembered the snacks her grandchildren had brought with them, which they had stolen from the fence of the orchard about 50 meters from her house.
“I saw that the two snack packs in the middle were already opened and there were only three snack pieces left, and I suspected they had eaten the crackers,” she said.
Meanwhile, their grandfather, Muhammad Nazar, reportedly said he told the two brothers to return home during the incident and did not expect them to take the snack packs with them.
He said the poison in the snacks might not be rat poison, but a stronger poison.
According to police, the suspect in the case is probably the victims’ neighbor, who works as a gardener.
The case is being investigated under section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 for abuse, neglect, abandonment or endangerment of a child and section 284 of the Criminal Code (negligent conduct involving poisonous substances).
