MUM WANTS SON'S DEATH PROBED

THE MOTHER of a 23-year-old polytechnic student who died on March 26 believes it was not a 'suicide' as portrayed and wants police to reopen the case.

Andika Alam bin Usman Duri was found hanged that day outside the verandah of a rented apartment in Sepanggar at about 9am.

Police had classified the case as 'sudden death' and suspected no foul play.

However, Aisyah binti Ahmad, 60, said she had reason to believe that Andika, the fourth of seven children, was assaulted by a group of men.

"When we bathed his body before burying, we saw many bruises particularly on his legs, abdomen, left ribcage, chest and private part," she said, adding, "we believe he was attacked prior to his death.

There was also a shoe mark on his abdomen."

"A week earlier, I heard my son quarrelling with someone on the phone who he later said was his housemate and there was an exchange of threatening words.

"On March 23, my son called to say that he had punched his housemate for disturbing and flirting with his girlfriend and that if anything happened to him, his housemate would be responsible as he (housemate) had brought along a gangster group to threaten my son," she said.

Aisyah also related that her last call was on the night of March 25 when she called Andika as she had an intuition that something bad may befall him.

When she called, the background was noisy and a different voice came on the phone before the line was cut off. She called again and her son answered and asked when she would come to visit him.

She told that she would visit soon and stay about a week with him.

Unfortunately, the next day (March 26), Aisyah received a call from her nephew about her son found hanged in his rented apartment.

Also at the press conference were Dakwah Islamiyah Welfare Organisation (Pekida) Sabah Chairman Datu Mohd Akjan Ali, her husband Usman Duri bin Supu, 56, who is Lahad Datu Pekida Chairman, and two of her children.

They lodged a report at the Menggatal police station on Monday calling on the police to re-open the case. Usman said they decided to lodge a report upon seeing the bruises and shoe marks on Andika's body before his burial in Lahad Datu.

"We want justice for my son and for legal action against the person responsible for my son's death.

"We do not believe that he committed suicide because we know him personally.

He was a good son and we strongly believe he was attacked and assaulted," he said.

Usman, who is also JKKK Chairman of Kg Bumiputra Hikmah, Lahad Datu, said his son had sent him a short messaging service (SMS) text at 12.22pm on March 25 saying many people were disturbing him.