STOP IT!

By MOHD YAAKOB YUSOF

THE sale of the book on Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, Di Mana Sharlinie? has incensed the missing five-year-old girl’s father.

Mohd Nashar Mat Hussain, who learnt about the book after reading The Malay Mail yesterday, was particularly angry with one of the book’s chapters suggesting that Sharlinie would suffer the same fate as Nurin Jazlin Jazimin.

Nurin, a Year Two pupil of Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Desa Setapak, was reported missing on Aug 20, and her ravaged body was found in a sports bag near a fl ight of stairs at a three-storey building in Petaling Jaya Utama on Sept 17.

“How could the publisher be so insensitive? What is his motive?” asked Mohd Nashar, at his house in Taman Medan yesterday.

He said he saw no other motive behind the book other than the publisher wanting to make a quick buck from the family’s misery.

“We believe our daughter is still alive and that she will come back to us one day. How could the publisher suggest that Sharlinie will suffer the same fate as Nurin?” he said.

Mohd Nashar was referring to the chapter, Adakah Jalan Mati? (Is it a dead end?), with a picture of a dead end road sign with a red palm-print on it next to Sharlinie’s poster and a picture of Jazimin Abdul Jalil during Nurin Jazlin’s burial.

He said no one had approached him for permission to publish any book on his daughter and added that whoever was behind the book should stop distributing it.

He said the only request he received was from individuals and companies to use his daughter’s picture for some campaigns.

“The publisher should empathise with us instead of taking advantage of us,” he said, adding that the book has further aggravated their pain.

“We miss her so much as it is and the book is not helping us either,” he said.

Mohd Nashar said he was shocked when told by his brother-in-law yesterday about The Malay Mail’s front-page report.

He said he would discuss with his family on whether they would take legal action against the publisher.

The 40-page book, written in Bahasa Malaysia, is a compilation of news reports on Sharlinie’s disappearance and is being sold at RM2.50 a copy.

The Malay Mail’s attempt to fi nd the publisher, listed as Penerbitan Karang Media, proved futile as no address or contact numbers were listed, and the only information available was a PO Box number and the name of the printing company on the back cover.

Sharlinie, who turned fi ve on Jan 30, was abducted in Taman Medan on Jan 9, while on her way home together with her sister.

A search was mounted and Interpol was notifi ed.

Two men were arrested by police but were later released due to lack of evidence.

It was reported that three days before Sharlinie’s abduction, a six-year-old girl was abducted by a man wearing a black helmet and riding a black motorcycle.

She was, however, found unharmed in Wangsa Maju two hours later.

The description of her abductor was reported to be similar to that of the Kampung Baru molester, dubbed the ‘Catman’.

- The Malay Mail