ANN/THE STAR – It was a heartbreaking moment for Muhammad Yahya, 58, as he buried his two sons, who were found drowned in a drainage ditch on Jalan Jepun in Tanjung Karang, Malaysia on Friday.
He expressed deep sorrow while carrying the bodies of his sons, Mohd Rasul Iman, nine, and his younger brother, Mohd Abd Qoyum, seven, who lost their lives in the incident.
He said the incident happened around 6.30pm on Friday as he was returning home after cooking at a friend’s house in Kampung Melaka, Tanjong Karang.
“I searched all around the village for Rasul and Qoyum, but I couldn’t find them, so I called my wife to tell her they had gone missing at the gathering.”
“Finally, I noticed a ball, slippers, and bubbles in the nearby ditch. I felt uneasy and was compelled to go down into the ditch,” he told a news agency yesterday.
Muhammad, who lives in Parit 1 Sungai Burong, said his instincts were right, as he found Qoyum’s body first after entering the ditch. “At that moment, I was in complete shock, and tears flowed as I saw my child lying there, lifeless.
“After lifting Qoyum’s body out, I went back down into the ditch and found Rasul’s body not far from his brother,” he added.
Muhammad shared that his third and fourth children, of five siblings, had accompanied him to his friend’s house to help prepare food for a memorial gathering that evening.
“I was cooking some dishes at my friend’s house, who was also hosting a wedding reception.
“I never thought that their last request to join me at the gathering would be a sign that my two sons would be gone forever,” he said.
Muhammad said both his sons were very close to him and his wife, Julina binti Abd Majid, 41.
“They were like twins, even though they were two years apart. Whenever we bought clothes, we always got the same for both of them.
“They were inseparable, and I never expected that they would leave this world together.
“Certainly, my wife, I, and their siblings will miss their antics and laughter,” he said.
The two brothers’ bodies were prayed over at Surau Batu 11, Parit 1, before being laid to rest at the Bagan Tengkorak Islamic Cemetery yesterday.
Kuala Selangor OCPD Supt Azharudin Tajuddin said the family realised the boys were missing at about 6.50pm, and their father found them three hours later, unconscious.
“Both victims were taken to Tanjong Karang Hospital, and the post-mortem revealed that the cause of death for the two siblings was drowning,” he said in a statement yesterday.
