A GROUP staged a protest at the Petaling Jaya court complex today, demanding that the rights of the late Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd CEO’s two teenage stepsons, held over his murder, be protected.

The group, comprising friends, family and a children’s rights activist, held placards during the “silent” protest, which started at 10am.

Voice of the Children activist Hartini Zainuddin said the two suspects were made to wear handcuffs and lock-up clothes when they were brought to the magistrates’ court, in violation of the United Nations conduct for minors.

“There’s no need to humiliate them. I’m here because I heard there were violations.

“If you look at the recommendations made, it is already stated – no handcuffs, no prison clothes. They should have changed that (handcuffing the boys and making them wear lock-up uniforms),” she was quoted as saying in news reports.

The boys, aged 16 and 14, have been remanded for seven days to facilitate investigations into Nazrin Hassan’s murder. 

The teenagers were arrested on Saturday and were remanded yesterday.

Nazrin was found dead after his bedroom at a double-storey terrace house in Mutiara Damansara caught fire on June 14, a day before Hari Raya.

His family said then his handphone had exploded, causing the fire. Cradle Fund also issued a statement, saying its CEO died from blast injuries attributed to an exploding handphone charging beside him.

Last month, however, Selangor police classified the case as murder after investigators found traces of petrol in the room.

On Thursday, a police source said they questioned the duo after it was found that Nazrin’s neck had injuries believed to be from an arrow. It is understood that the two boys are archers. 

“The two are still in secondary school, and were detained at their grandfather’s house at 9.30pm. Our investigation found that there was a puncture hole in the neck (of the victim) caused by an arrow,” the source said.

Their mother was arrested last week, along with her ex-husband. Police obtained a seven-day remand order for them in connection with the murder.

Selangor CID chief Fadzil Ahmat told The Malaysian Insight that the 43-year-old man was detained in Sepang, Selangor, followed by the arrest of the woman in Taman Tun Dr Ismail in Kuala Lumpur an hour later.

“The man we arrested was the ex-husband of the woman we detained. She is also the widow of the deceased (Nazrin).”

Nazrin’s 43-year-old widow is a senior executive at the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation. – September 10, 2018.