Zayn Rayyan last seen alive in the evening of Dec 5

Murder victim Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matiin was last seen alive around his apartment block in Damansara Damai, Petaling Jaya, about 5pm on Dec 5, said police.

This was about five hours after he reportedly went missing.

According to Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan, two children told police they saw the six-year-old autistic child wandering alone in the corridor of Levels 2 and 3 of Block R.

"During a police mass screening exercise, we managed to find two child witnesses who saw the victim at Level 2 and Level 3 of Block R between 5pm and 5.30pm on Dec 5."The victim was seen alone in the corridor," he said.

Hussein said police have recorded statements from 86 individuals to facilitate their investigation so far, while the number of DNA samples taken during mass DNA screening at the apartment complex has risen to 238.

Police databank

So far, according to the police chief, forensics experts are still working to compare all the samples and DNA profiles in police databank with evidence that has been collected by investigators.

Zayn Rayyan reportedly went missing in the afternoon of Dec 5. According to news reports, the boy and her mother were taking the stairs to their apartment unit at Level 3 when she realised that he was nowhere to be seen.

The mother then tried searching for Zayn Rayyan, before she posted on Facebook seeking assistance from anyone around the area to locate the boy.

A search party was later mounted by the authorities and assisted by local residents to look for the boy.

After efforts to locate the victim were unsuccessful, police launched a door-to-door search operation in the evening of Dec 6, before Zayn Rayyan's body was discovered by a stream about 200m from his home about 10pm.

He was initially presumed to have drowned, but police later reclassified the case as murder after a post-mortem carried out by forensics experts revealed that the victim had been strangled.

There were also defensive wounds found on his body, according to police. - Mkini