Dad regrets leaving her at home alone

By Rahman Daros

“MY only mistake was that I left her alone at home. Now I regret what had happened.”

This came from the 40-yearold father of Preeshena Varshiny, whose body was found sprawled on the ground fl oor of up-market Casa Mila Tower Condominium in Jalan Bukit Idaman 3/1, Selayang, last Thursday.

The nine-year-old pupil of Sekolah Kebangsaan St Mary in Selayang, is believed to have been brutally raped and sodomised before she was thrown from a balcony by her assailant.

She was clad in a blue T-shirt and a pair of shorts when she was found by a condominium security guard at 4pm. The keys to her apartment were found near her. Her father, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his daughter had been left home alone since last month after his wife found a new job.

“We had planned to transfer her to another school in Kepong next year as it is nearer to my brother’s house in Taman Ehsan but it is too late,” said the marketing and technical manager of a security equipment company.

He said his wife had just started working again after being a housewife for two years.

“We needed more money as our children are growing. But I never thought it would lead to this,” he said. He said they bought new Deepavali clothes for Preeshena last week and she liked them very much.

“We had planned to go shopping together last Saturday. We don’t celebrate Deepavali, but my parents do. It saddens me that she didn’t get the chance to wear the clothes,” he said, tears welling up in his eyes. He said he believed the suspect is familiar with the area.

“Whoever killed my daughter must have been monitoring what she did, what time she arrived home from school and what time I came home,” he said. He said he did not have any enemies.

“Now, I don’t trust anyone,” he said. Checks at the condominium yesterday revealed that it is not equipped with closed-circuit television cameras, except at the entrance.

“I moved here about two and a half years ago because of its security. It’s a gated community with guards all around,” he said.

He described her daughter as a hardworking child who would do house chores every day after returning from school at 1.30pm.

“She would fold the clothes and clean the house. She never complained. She was a hardworking girl,” he said. Preeshena’s 30-year-old mother, who also wanted to remain anonymous, wished that she had never taken the job.

“Now, I regret taking the new job as I had to leave her alone at home. We always taught her to be careful, especially after Nurin’s (Jazlin Jazimin) case.

“I told her what rape was all about, the improper touching by strangers and all the precautions. I’m sure she struggled with her killer as she was a tough girl,” she said. The security guard who was on duty on the day of the incident, said he did not hear anyone screaming on his watch.

“I only heard a loud sound, like something exploded. I thought one of the machines at the laundry shop on the ground floor had exploded, because it was so loud,” he said.

The guard, who also refused to be named, said he was told that four men, a security guard and four foreigners, in their 20s and 30s, were picked up on Friday night to facilitate investigations.

Gombak police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Abdullah said no arrests have been made. “We are still investigating,” he said.

It was reported that the victim’s apartment was locked and that there were no signs of forced entry.

Preeshena’s slippers were still in front of the door.

Police are also looking at the possibility that the victim had been taken to a vacant unit on the second floor where she was believed to have been attacked and murdered.

- The Malay Mail