IT may not be possible to retrieve all the 12 bodies of the Orang Asli who died of unknown causes in Kg Kuala Koh in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

A Bateq tribesman today said wild animals may have gotten to the bodies first, as the authorities begin a trek into the jungle to mark out the sites where the bodies were left for subsequent retrieval for a post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death.

To date, 14 members of the tribe have died of a mysterious illness. A post-mortem was conducted on two of the victims, who had died in the hospital and were buried. The rest of the victims died in the village and were given the customary send-off, which does not includes burial. Instead, the bodies are placed on a wooden platform raised on stilts in the jungle.

Bateq tribesman Dolah Pin told The Malaysian Insight it is the tradition to return the bodies to the jungle.

“According to our tradition, we will place the body in the jungle on a wooden platform built on stilts,” he said.

“We are from the jungle so we return to the jungle.

“We believe that this will reunite the soul with our ancestors.

The ritual entails wrapping the body in cloth with the face exposed and returning it to the jungle on a metre-high wooden platform.

Dolah said it was not unusual for the bodies to be lost as there are many wild animals in the jungle.

“For us it is not about the body because the soul has left.

“In the jungle there are wild animals like tigers, bears and even five-feet-long monitor lizards that are capable of carrying off the body.” 

The Bateq village is on the fringe of the Kelantan National Park. 

The Malaysian Insight took a 40-minute hike to the top of a hill where the body of a 15-year-old victim was left. 

The platform on which the body was laid was bare, except for some bone fragments.

“When the body decomposes it will attract the wild animals. That’s why within a few days the body will disappear.”

Yesterday, Kelantan police chief Hasanuddin Hassan said it would take some time to recover the bodies of the dozen Bateq said to have died of pneumonia in the past month.

“We don’t know where all the bodies were placed. Some (of the tribes) even use a boat to take it (the body) across the river deep into the jungle.

“So we are not sure where all the bodies are.” – June 12, 2019.