Dream 'solves' sisters' murder
FROM BEYOND?: Victims' father told to look for 'Ehsan', leading to arrest of two youths
ALOR STAR: JUSTICE, it seems, transcends death. Mystery had shrouded the murder of three sisters from Kampung Alor Semela here on Nov 29, with police coming to a dead end, with every lead and person interviewed eliminated from the suspects' pool.
The mystery, however, has been solved with the arrest of two 19-year-old youths from Kampung Gelam, less than 2km away from the victims' home.
Both suspects had initially been free of suspicion.
They even attended the sisters' funeral and offered assistance in finding the killers.
How they came to be arrested on the suspicion of murdering Noor Syafikah Nadia Rusdi, 14, Nur Izzati Husna, 12, and Puteri Nurul Akma, 3, seems like a tale from a supernatural thriller.
On Tuesday, the sisters' 39-year-old father, Rusdi Rani, had a strange dream, in which his eldest daughter appeared before him.
In the dream, she told him to tell police to look for someone named "Ehsan".
He related it to his 40-year-old wife, Siti Aisyah Ariffin, who said the name rang a bell.
The couple reported the matter to the police.
Checks revealed that one of the suspects' nickname was "Ehsan".
Further checks linked the duo to an electronic device belonging to Noor Syafikah, sold to a buyer on the night of the murders, which had since been recovered by police.
State Criminal Investigation Department chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Mohd Nashir Ya said the suspects were arrested on Wednesday.
He said they were picked up from their homes in Kampung Gelam at 3pm and 5pm respectively.
Yesterday, police obtained a week-long remand order from the magistrate's court here against the suspects.
It was learnt that investigations had revealed that on the night that the sisters went missing, they had accepted an invitation for a ride from the two suspects.
It explained why the sisters left their father's motorcycle at a bus stop in front of SK Kampung Gelam.
According to a police source, Noor Syafikah, who was riding pillion on the main suspect's motorcycle, and her sisters, on the accomplice's motorcycle, were taken to a vacant house near Kampung Gelam.
It was learnt that the main suspect had lured the eldest sister into the house and tried to rape her, while his accomplice watched over the younger sisters outside.
"After failing to rape her, the suspects took the sisters to an abandoned padi field in Alor Senibong, where the main suspect was believed to have killed her.
"The duo then took her siblings to an irrigation canal near Padang Petani, about 2.5km away.
"The main suspect was believed to have pushed Nur Izzati and Puteri Nurul into the canal (where they subsequently drowned)."
Noor Syafikah's semi-nude body was found by a passer-by the following day, while the bodies of her sisters, fully-clothed, were found floating face down about 100m from each other in the canal 24 hours later.