2007 09: Student in coma after having spiked drink

The Star Online. Nation. News. Thursday August 30, 2007

TAIPING: A Form Two student is in a coma at Taiping Hospital after allegedly drinking bottled fruit juice laced with an unidentified chemical.

Muhammad Shamil Izwan Ahmad Shukri, 14, of SM Agama Addiniah in Cangkat Jering, was suspected to have consumed the drink at his school hostel on Monday.

Perak police chief Deputy Commissioner Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah said police did not rule out the possibility that there was a murder attempt and was interviewing students and teachers from the school.

“We want to know if the boy was asked to drink the weed killer or had accidentally consumed it,” he added.

The boy's police constable father, Ahmad Shukri Ayob, 40, said he received a call from the hostel warden informing him that his son had been sent to Taiping Hospital for suspected poisoning.

Ahmad Shukri, from Pengkalan Hulu near Baling, said he and his wife Nor Syadat Man, 34, rushed to the hospital, arriving at 1.30am to find their son in a coma at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

“I was told by the doctor on duty that my son has a 50-50 chance of surviving,” he said.

He and the school authorities lodged separate police reports after an empty bottlewas found near the boy.

The principal, Ustaz Wan Mu’az Wan Ahmad, said 24 of Muhammad Shamil’s schoolmates had their statements taken by the police and investigations were going on.

“We have asked the students to tell the police everything they know. We’re not certain how the poisoning occurred and the fruit juice has been sent for analysis,” he said yesterday.

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Form Two schoolboy held for attempted murder

The Star Online. Nation. News. Monday September 3, 2007

TAIPING: A Form Two student from a religious school in Changkat Jering here has been detained by police for attempted murder in connection with the case of a student who slipped into a coma after drinking water laced with weedkiller at the school hostel.

Larut Matang OCPD Asst Comm Raja Musa Raja Razak said the 14-year-old boy was arrested on Sunday evening when he returned to his hostel after spending the weekend with his family.

“He was produced before a magistrate today and he is being remanded for six days until Saturday to facilitate investigations,” said ACP Raja Musa, adding that the boy was being investigated under Section 307 of the Penal Code.

ACP Raja Musa said the boy had been sent to a special lock-up for juveniles at a police station in Pokok Assam.

ACP Raja Musa said the boy became remorseful after a teacher from SM Agama Adinniah told him that Muhammad Shamil Izwan Ahmad Shukri, who went into a coma last Monday night, had regained consciousness.

He said had also seized a plastic cup, a gourd and a plastic drink container to facilitate investigations. However, he said, the Chemistry Department had yet to identify the liquid found in the seized items.

"ACP Raja Musa did not rule out the possibility that the substance which Muhammad Shamil was allegedly forced to drink had been purchased from a shop.

ACP Raja Musa also said that so far only one suspect had been picked up.

On the notes scribbled by Muhammad Shamil from his hospital bed , ACP Raja Musa said the notes, which had been handed over to the police by the boy’s father, would be used in the investigation.

In the scribbled notes, Muhammad Shamil had named one of his hostel mates as the person who forced him to drink from a cup before he became unconscious.

Meanwhile the boy’s father, Ahmad Shukri Ayob, a police constable based in Pengkalan Hulu said he was glad that his son was recovering.

“He can talk a little bit but he is still weak,” he said, adding that a tube inserted into his mouth had also been taken out on Monday.

Muhammad Shamil, the third of Ahmad Shukri’s five children, was rushed to Taiping hospital last Monday night when he collapsed after drinking water suspected to have been laced with a weedkiller.