SUSPECTING something was amiss with their daughter, Atam Jusoh and his wife, Saadiah Ibrahim, made a rare trip to bring her back to Dungun, Terengganu, in 2014.

Recalling the trip, Atam said they discovered that their eldest daughter, Siti Noor Aishah Atam, had lost a lot weight and had stopped eating when they collected her from an Islamic school in Rembau.

Siti Aishah, now 29, was a teacher and warden at the school in 2014.

He told The Malaysian Insight on Sunday that they went to check on their daughter after hearing that she was in danger following her involvement with humanitarian efforts in Syria.

Upon their return to Dungun, the elderly couple referred their daughter to the Dungun religious office, as they felt their daughter looked “stressed out” and thought she could have been hypnotised.

For the next two to three months, Siti Aishah was detained by the Dungun religious office. She was later charged by the Dungun Shariah Subordinate Court with possession of a book she owned and was fined RM2,000.

Following that, Atam and his wife decided to take more drastic measures by cutting her off from the outside world by taking away her mobile phone and disconnecting the internet at home.

“When she first got back, she had her handphone with her. And if there was anything she didn’t understand (from her reading), she would call Dr Mahmud,” he said, referring to former Universiti Malaya lecturer Dr Mahmud Ahmad. 

Dr Mahmud, who fled to southern Philippines in 2014, is currently wanted by the federal police in Bukit Aman for terrorism-related activities.

According to Atam, his daughter was a studious person who, although friendly, rarely left the house.

Siti Aishah, who is currently being held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), was a quiet person, who did not court trouble as a child.

She attended a primary school in Dungun and went to SM Agama Sultan Ismail Dungun. It was only during her undergraduate studies that she left Terengganu, after completing a diploma at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin in Kuala Terengganu.

“She always informs her mother wherever she goes,” said Atam, 61. 

“Even if she arrives in Alor Star at 5am, she will call home to tell us that she has arrived,” Sadiah said, recalling when her daughter was studying at Insaniah University College in Kedah. 

Atam, however, said his daughter never told him about her on-campus activities, noting that he would not have understood anyway, as he never had tertiary education. 

 “I never visited her either. I just advised her to study hard so that she could give back to society,” he said, adding that financial constraints were among the reasons he did not make regular trips to the capital city to visit their daughter. 

‘Marriage proposal’ start of ordeal

Atam said the family’s ordeal began in early 2014 when three men visited his house to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

He said the three, including the man who wanted to marry Siti Aishah, were rough and behaved rudely when they came to his house. He turned down their request. 

“I rejected his request, as he did not come with his family, something we Muslims usually do. I told him one cannot simply get married, as there are many procedures, but he wanted to marry her as soon as possible. He didn’t even look at me when he talked to me,” said Atam.

The man introduced himself as Mohd Gadafi from Kuala Kangsar, Perak. 

After the rejection, Atam said, the family began receiving threats, warning him not to inform anyone or the authorities about the meeting, or their lives would be in danger. 

“That’s why I lodged a police report (in 2014) about them, but not about my daughter,” he said, adding that Siti Aishah met Gadafi on Facebook.

Siti Aishah, who was detained for allegedly possessing 12 terrorism-related books, had also been held under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (POCA) last year, on the day the Kuala Lumpur High Court acquitted and discharged her.

The former Universiti Malaya master’s in usuluddin (Islamic studies) student said she was using the books for her master’s degree research.

The High Court found that there was no prima facie case against her and acquitted her. After the POCA detention, she was sentenced to house arrest, with an electronic monitoring device (EMD) fitted to her before she was re-arrested on March 27.

Atam’s only wish now is for her release, to end the pain the family have suffered in the past years. 

“I hope she will be released as soon as possible. It’s been a long time and it’s a torture for me and my daughter. If this continues, I don’t think we can cope with it. I can’t afford it financially,” he said.

“I never regretted my decision to lodge a police report back then. But my police report and the 2016 arrest are not connected.” – April 5, 2017.