Grieving widower victim of fake news
Sunday, 22 Apr 2018
by fatimah zainal and natasha joibi
Happier times: Abdul Hajan with Rositah (centre) and Nurul Zafirah.
KOTA KINABALU: Semporna Umno committee member Datuk Abdul Hajan Gurimbang lost his wife of 30 years in an accident, postponed their daughter’s wedding and fell victim to fake news – all in a few days.
Viral posts on social media spun tales that Abdul Hajan had died in an accident on Tuesday and that a pile of cash was found in his wrecked car.
In reality, Abdul Hajan was away in Semporna at the time and the accident involved his driver and two family members in Ranau.
On Tuesday, his wife Datin Rositah Abdul Ghani Shah, 54, and their bride-to-be daughter Nurul Zafirah, 23, were seriously injured when the Toyota Land Cruiser they were travelling in collided with a Hilux Vigo pick-up truck and a Nissan lorry along Taviu Hill in Ranau.
They were on their way back to their home in Semporna when the Land Cruiser skidded into the next lane and crashed into the oncoming lorry.
The Hilux Vigo rear-ended the Land Cruiser as the truck driver tried to avoid crashing into the vehicle.
Abdul Hajan’s driver Sulaiman Harianto, 28, was instantly killed, while Rositah succumbed to her injuries on Thursday.
Abdul Hajan has kept his emotions in check while dealing with the loss of his wife and the subsequent fake news.
Not true: A tweet by Najib debunking the fake news that Abdul Hajan had died in the accident and that a pile of cash was found in the car.
“In this general election season, there are a lot of issues being played out by parties warring with each other to gain the upper hand.
“But I’m grateful that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and other Barisan Nasional leaders have come forward on social media to debunk the fake news while I deal with my grief,” said Abdul Hajan when contacted yesterday.
He said while it was true that his wife had money with her in the car, it was not a box full of money as described in the fake news.
“The cash was for her to do some shopping for Nurul Zafirah’s wedding,” he explained.
Nurul Zafirah, the fourth of seven children aged between 12 and 28, was supposed to marry her beau from Kalimantan yesterday, with the wedding reception planned for today.
“She broke her leg and is recovering at home in Semporna,” said Abdul Hajan.
“The joyful atmosphere has turned into a sad one and I have to make peace with what God has decreed for me.
“After the seventh kenduri tahlil (prayers for the deceased) for Rositah, I will set another date for Nurul Zafirah’s wedding so that I can realise my late wife’s wish to see her married,” he said.
Ranau OCPD Deputy Supt Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah confirmed that the circulating message was untrue.
“When police combed the scene, they did not find any money, be it in a box or in the vehicle itself,” DSP Mohd Farhan confirmed.
The message was also debunked by Barisan on its website.
The coalition clarified that the accompanying image of a box containing money, which was allegedly found in the accident, was fake.
“The photo was from a ‘fake money’ case published in February. Even then, police denied the authenticity of the photo,” Barisan noted on its website.
Najib took to Twitter to express his condolences to Abdul Hajan and his family.
“Where has humanity and sympathy gone to, that anyone would go to the cruel extent of using a tragedy to spread hateful politics, unimaginable!” he tweeted.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/04/22/grieving-widower-victim-of-fake-news-barisan-nasional-debunks-viral-posts-about-members-family-trage/#TP8cACboIHySHEqa.99
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