THE exhumation of the late Nazrin Hassan’s body was one of the toughest decisions ever made by the family, said Nazrin’s elder brother, Dr Aziz Hassan.

Aziz, a lawyer, told The Malaysian Insight that his family were initially reluctant to exhume the deceased Cradle Fund chief executive officer’s body, as he was buried more than two months earlier.

“It was one of the toughest decisions for us. He was buried much earlier but at the same time we were not happy with the first autopsy.

“My eldest brother, said the exhumation was vital, but although we understood the importance of the second autopsy, we were thinking about it hard,” Aziz said, referring to Dr Malek Hassan, who is a medical doctor.

“But in the end, we decided to go for it since our objective was to find the truth,” Aziz said.

Nazrin was allegedly murdered on June 14 last year, on the eve of Hari Raya.

At the Petaling Jaya magistrate’s court today, Nazrin’s wife Samira Muzaffar and two of her sons were charged with his murder.

Their Indonesian maid, Eka Wahayu Lestari, was charged in absentia as she is believed to have fled the country.

The four were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code to be read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries the death sentence upon conviction. 

They are accused of committing the offence between 11.30pm on June 13 and 4am on June 14 last year at a house in Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

However, no plea was recorded from the 43-year-old woman and the two siblings.

Nazrin’s family members had mixed feelings about the court proceedings today.

Sister Elainee Hassan told The Malaysian Insight that her family just wants the truth.

However, she expressed her sadness to see a family member facing murder charges.

“I am here because someone close to me passed away in a mysterious manner. Everyone in the family wants justice and the truth.”

“However, at the same time I have mixed feelings. It is not a happy feeling to see my late brother’s wife facing those charges,” she said.

Elainee said she met Samirah’s sister before the proceedings.

“I met her sister, we shook hands. I saw the rest of their family members in the courtroom,” she added.

Aziz said he was relieved that the case is finally progressing.

“I feel relief as the case is now moving. From day one, we wanted to know what really happened.

“Now it is being taken to court and I hope there will be closure one day. That’s all I hope for,” he said.

Efforts to get comments from Samira’s family members were unsuccessful. 

Magistrate Tuan Muhammad Ikhwan Mohd Nasir allowed the case to be transferred to the high court. He also placed a gag order on the identity of the two boys, who are aged 13 and 16. 

Samirah wore a green headscarf, while the boys were dressed in their school uniforms. 

Present at the hearing was Samirah’s father, prominent academic Dr Chandra Muzaffar. 

Police picked up Samirah and her two sons today about 6.45am from their home.

In the first post-mortem, Kuala Lumpur Hospital pathologists concluded that Nazrin died of blast injuries after his mobile phone, which was being charged next to his bed, exploded.

Fire and Rescue Department investigators later discovered traces of petrol in the bedroom.

Police then reclassified the case as murder and questioned several family members.

Last week, a second post-mortem revealed that Nazrin died of multiple head injuries.

The Malaysian Insight also learnt that the second autopsy report revealed that the victim did not sustain blast injuries to the head, as stated in the first post-mortem report. – March 4, 2019.