BATU PAHAT: "Uncle, uncle, where's mummy?", asked five-year-old Eusof Abdul Fatah outside the magistrate's court today.
The boy had directed his question at Mohammad Haikal Mahfuz, the man accused of murdering his mother, Mila Sharmila Samsusah, better known as Bella, last December.
Haikal,24, was exiting the court when Eusof, whom his family accompanied, repeatedly asked him about his mother's whereabouts.
Eusof's aunt, Norhisham, said the boy has been asking about Bella, 32.
"He always asks me where she is. I told him the 'uncle' took her away and that he could ask the 'uncle' when he saw him.
"That's why he asked (Haikal) spontaneously," she said, adding she felt sad when her Eusof asked the question.
Aside from Eusof, Bella had a daughter, Maream Isabel, 3. They are being looked after by their grandmother.
Norisham said this year's Ramadan would not be the same without Bella.
"We feel sad to see Bella's children celebrate Ramadan without their mother. We feel empty. Sadly, Bella will not get to see Eusof go to school."
Meanwhile, Norhisham said Bella's spine and hands have yet to be found.
Last week, members of the public found six bones at the back of an abandoned house in Tongkang Pechah, close to where her partial remains were found in December.
The bones have been sent for DNA analysis and the results are expected to be ready in three weeks.
"We hope we can get the results before Hari Raya Aidilfitri," said Norhisham.
Haikal has been charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment for a term not less than 30 years or not exceeding 40 years.
If he is not sentenced to death, he will receive no less than 12 strokes of the rotan.
