Nurin Jazlin (Unsolved Murder) and Sharlinie Mohd Nashar (Missing Person)

On an August evening in 2007, 7 year old Nurin Jazlin left her family's apartment and headed to the nearby night market in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Nurin was alone and intent on purchasing a hair clip at one of the stalls. She never returned and witness reports would confirm she had was abducted by a man driving a white van. Almost a month later her parents' worst fears were realised when Nurin's body was discovered. 4 months later and 20 km away another little girl, Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, disappeared while playing in at a playground. She has never been seen since. A spate of abductions and failed kidnappings across Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding state of Selangor would lead investigators to suspect they were all connected. 

Sources for the episode can be found here 

Transcript

Nurin Jazlin and Sharlinie Mohd Nashar

Just a brief note about this episode. I first came across the story of Nurin Jazlin unsolved murder in the autumn of 2023. I originally planned to make it the first episode of 2024, and over the Christmas period sat down to research the case. After reading just a few articles I stopped. I was so affected by what had happened to Nurin I had to pause and take stock. If I’m honest I decided I would never be able to cover the case.

As I reflected on my decision I began to think more about it and in particular of Nurin’s father who has tirelessly campaigned for justice on behalf of his daughter. In light of this I reconsidered. I want this podcast to share the stories that are so often ignored, particularly by English language podcasts. Through my research I came across the story of Sharlinie Mohd Nashar which shares many similarities with Nurin’s case and many people believe them to be connected.

There are some details in this episode that are disturbing and as always I have tried to cover them with sensitivity and respect. I will warn you when those parts are coming up in the narrative. As always when dealing with a crime involving a child please exercise self care if and when you choose to listen. 

For reference, Malays do not really have surnames or family names. A person has a personal name which is used to address them followed by a patronym or a name derived from their father’s name. Many distinguished people such as politicians have the title “datuk” before their name. This is the equivalent of the British “sir”.

Nurin Jazlin Jazimin was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on September 11th 1999. She was the second of four sisters born to parents, mum Norazian Bistaman and dad, Jazimin Abdul Jalil. Her elder sister was one year older and another two years younger, the third a few years younger again. Nurin was mature for her age and had a kind character, always looking out for her sisters. Her father described Nurin as the peacemaker within her sibling group. He affectionately used the nickname Kak Ngah for Nurin. It's hard to work out an exact English translation but it’s a reference to Nurin being the second sister in the family. 

The family lived in a 2 bedroom rented second floor apartment in Section One of Wangsa Maju township. This is one of the largest residential districts in Kuala Lumpur and is situated in the north-east of the city. Until 1984 the area had been a rubber plantation but by the mid 2000’s it was a dynamic and pleasant place to live. 

In the summer of 2007, when the events I am about to describe took place, both parents were in their mid 30’s and the intelligent and spirited Nurin was seven years old. She was in her second year of school at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Setapak Desa.

On the evening of August 20th Nurin’s father Jazimin arrived home from his tiring shift as a taxi driver and went for a nap. At 8pm Nurin asked her mother if she could go to a nearby “pasar malam” or night market to purchase a hair clip. Nurin loved styling her long black hair and had a specific favourite clip in mind that was sold at one of the stalls. Nurin’s mother Norazian had a guest over and was busy entertaining but she asked her daughter if she was planning on going with her 6 year old younger sister. She could only go if this were the case. Normally when Nurin went out she would do so with a group of friends or with her sisters. At the very least she would venture out in a pair. For whatever reason on this occasion, unbeknownst to her mother, Nurin left the family apartment alone. She was wearing a distinctive pink dress and went on foot unaccompanied to the bustling market. 

The streets of Wangsa Maju were always busy come day or night but were especially crowded on a Monday evening when the night market was happening. It was a cheap alternative to shopping at a supermarket and there was always a bargain to be had for the determined shopper. It would not have taken very long for Nurin to reach her destination, as according to reports the night market was between 100m and 500m away from the family apartment. 

An hour or so later Nurin’s father Jazimin woke up from his nap. It was only then it was realised that Nurin had not yet returned from her trip to the market. She should have only been gone for a matter of minutes but it was now getting very late. Jazimin gathered together some neighbours and concerned friends and went out searching the streets for Nurin. They went amongst the stall workers in the market and asked if anyone had seen her. From what I have read one stall owner remembered Nurin buying the hair clip but did not know where she had gone after that. By 3.00am it became clear that Nurin hadn't just become distracted and wandered off, but that something untoward had happened to her. The anxious father went to a police station and reported her missing.

Persons Unknown is a true crime podcast dedicated to unsolved murders and missing persons cases from all over the world.

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Initially local papers did cover the story but it was not front page news. Over the next few days media interest increased rapidly as more details began to emerge. Exactly seven days after Nurin went missing Norazian gave an extremely emotional press conference pleading that her daughter be returned to her. She called for members of the public to come forward with any tips or information they may be sitting on. It was now that police officially declared that Nurin was likely the victim of a kidnapping. 

There was a sympathetic response but unfortunately the case was plagued by crank callers claiming that Nurin was alive and in various locations. These reports all proved false and just wasted the time of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP).

This situation would be a nightmare for any parent but it was made even more fraught for Jazimin and Norazian because Nurin had an ongoing medical issue that required treatment. The 7 year old suffered from kidney problems and high blood pressure which meant she had to take daily medication. A prolonged period without medication could have extremely serious consequences for Nurin’s health. Pamphlets were hastily printed with Nurin’s smiling face and distributed across the city to ensure her plight was at the forefront of people's minds.

The public responded. 300 people, including members of the police, staff from City Hall and the Malay Neighbourhood Watch, got involved in numerous searches. These predominantly took place in Wangsa Maju and neighbouring areas such as Sentul, Kepong, Jinjang and Setapak.

Police questioned locals who had been shopping at the night market and uncovered some very disturbing information. Eight days after Nurin vanished a witness came forward to say they had seen a man persuade Nurin to follow him away from the market. The witness, who was only a little girl herself, had seen the man drag Nurin along the street before jostling her into a parked white van. Nurin was overheard protesting the man's actions and saying no to him.

The young witness did not realise the severity of what she had seen. She believed Nurin had been taken home by an angry relative. According to Malaysian newspaper Rakyat Mail, several witnesses later said they had seen this incident and it was also caught on CCTV, though no one intervened, or at least reacted quickly enough to stop Nurin being taken. There was little doubt that Nurin had been abducted but to what end? Nurin’s family were not well off and could not pay a ransom. Days and weeks passed but there was no sign of Nurin Jazlin. 

Over the previous few years there had been 6240 children and teenagers reported missing in Malaysia. In the first six months of 2007 alone there were 34 cases of children under 9 disappearing. A large number of these were due to parental disputes over custody disagreements or children who had run away to escape their home life. In many of these instances the child was found safe and well. In Nurin’s case it was obvious she had not run away and it was clear the parents had no involvement in the kidnapping. It looked like the abduction had been a crime of opportunity by someone with evil intent. 

As time went on with no news the Inspector General of police Tan Sri Musa Hasson implored the public for more help. By his own admission investigators were struggling to find leads. Following this there was a brief ray of hope when a woman contacted the police to say that on September 5th she had seen a girl she believed to be Nurin at a rest area on the side of the road in Seremban. This is just over an hour's drive south of Kuala Lumpur. Ultimately it appears the RMP found no proof of this and discounted the sighting. 

On September 11th, in her absence, the family thought of Nurin, as she turned 8 that day. Less than a week later the news came that everyone had been dreading.

At 8.30am on Monday September 17th supervisor Cheng arrived at work at the Jaybook Distribution Company on Taman Petaling Utama off Jalan Klang Lama in Petaling Jaya. Petaling Jaya is a spillover city, 7 miles or 11 km southwest of  Kuala Lumpur. The three storey building which housed the Jaybook Distribution Company is located 12 miles or 20 km south-west from the market in Wangsa Maju where Nurin was last seen. 

As Cheng was about to open up the premises she noticed a blue and black Diadora sports holdall on the ground at the bottom of a set of steps. She thought it might belong to her boss, Jack, general manager of the company. He had just returned from a trip to Singapore so she thought it might be something to do with that. Cheng left the bag alone and carried on with her usual opening up routine. 

At 9am general manager Jack turned up at work and questioned Cheng about the bag. Cheng had been wrong, the holdall did not belong to Jack. Wondering who the rightful owner was, Jack bent down, unzipped the bag and peered inside. He recoiled in shock as he was confronted with a pair of human legs. Closer inspection showed the bag contained the body of a small child, curled up in the foetal position. 

A medical examination identified the body as that of a female aged between 6 and 9 years old. The body was found naked and malnourished. There were bruises on the neck which indicated the possibilty the child had been strangled. There were also bruises on the hands. This next detail is very disturbing so please fast forward 30 seconds or so if you would rather not hear it. A cucumber and brinjal (another name for an eggplant or aubergine) was found stuffed inside the private parts. This had led to rectal rupture which in turn had caused a bacterial infection. Some reports indicate that the infection was the cause of death, others that it was a significant contributing factor. If untreated the young victim would have died from this infection. 

Investigators were convinced that in all probability this was the body of missing  8 year old Nurin Jazlin. Nurin’s parents  were contacted and went to the hospital to view the body and formally make the identification. 

Numerous sources mention that when confronted with the body the parents were adamant that it was not their missing daughter. It didn't look like her at all.The teeth were said to be noticeably different. Nurin had a gap between her front two teeth but the victim did not. Coupled with this the body presented to the parents did not bear a BCG scar on the upper left arm that Nurin had. As in many counties across the world the BCG jab is given to children in Malaysia to prevent Tuberculosis. The Australian Newspaper The Age reported on September 21st 2007 that the deceased girl did not look like Nurin and had a birthmark on her left thigh they did not recognise. 

This assertion by Nurin’s parents led police to suspect the child victim may have been trafficked into Malaysia from abroad, perhaps from Vietnam or Thailand. Further testing was required. As a note, according to an article on Astrowani website from October 2021 the former head of the Kuala Lumpur Police HQ Forensic Laboratories crime scene investigation unit who supervised the case Amidon Anan says Nurin’s mother Norazian Bistaman did identify the body before the postmortem as her daughter. A birthmark on Nurin’s left thigh was used to determine this. This suggests Nurin did have a birthmark.  Only Norazian was present at this time, not Nurin’s father, according to the article . There definitely seems to have been a lot of confusion in those early days and this is illustrated in the conflicting media reports.

To gain clarity on the issue dental records were examined. The results suggested a 95% certainty that the body was indeed Nurin Jazlin. A DNA test was also carried out which confirmed this news. Petaling Jaya Police Chief ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed announced that the DNA was a match. Based on this evidence the authorities were 99.99% sure it was Nurin. The problem was that no one informed Nurin’s parents of this fact before it was released in the media.

The first Nurin’s parents heard about the DNA confirmation was when it was broadcast on the news. I believe this was at 8.00 on the evening of Thursday September 20th. Apparently they were not even aware that DNA testing had yet started. News sources were already reporting that Jazimin and Norazian were unwilling to accept the DNA results. This was not true as they did not know the process was happening. Though it is my understanding a second DNA test was carried out on request of the parents to ensure no mistake had been made.

This less than accurate media reporting led to rumours and speculation that the parents were behind the whole thing and had made it look like a kidnapping to cover up the death of their daughter. This of course was a complete fabrication and one that was incredibly hurtful to the loving parents. 

Other newspaper stories suggested that Nurin's father was in dire financial trouble and his daughter's murder was connected to a series of debts he owed loan sharks.  Again this was completely false and led to Jazimin threatening legal action against several newspapers. He claimed that they were prejudiced against him and he was looked down upon because he worked as a taxi driver. They believed him to be uneducated and lazy. The reason Jazimin had been forced to take the taxi job in the first place was because it gave him a degree of freedom over the hours he worked, meaning he had time to take Nurin to the many medical appointments she required due to her long standing medical condition. 

Jazimin claimed that statements made by the police about the loan sharks led to him being hounded by the media. The accusations damaged his good name and reputation. He filed a defamation suit against the RMP in 2008 but after three years of legal wrangling the courts ruled against him. 

After the trauma of receiving the news about the DNA results, Nurin's parents reluctantly had to face the reality that their daughter was gone. I can't explain the differences concerning the gap in the teeth, BCG scar and general appearance except to say that Nurin’s time in captivity was extremely traumatic and would have dramatically altered her appearance. 

As you may have already worked out, Nurin was not killed when she was first abducted. Statistics from the USA suggest that 74% of children who are abducted and murdered are killed within three hours. This did not happen in Nurin’s case. Medical examiners estimated that Nurin had died between 6 and 24 hours before her body was found. This led to the inevitable and sickening conclusion that Nurin had been held captive and abused for almost a month before her death.

Nurin's body was claimed by her parents at 11.15am on Friday September 21st. The funeral took place hours later  at Taman Ibukota Islamic cemetery in Setapak. Thousands attended the service ,including many of Nurin’s school friends. The minister of women's development, family and society, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jazimin Jalil, the Chief of Selangor police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar (Selangor is the state which surrounds the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur)  and the Chief of the Kuala Lumpur police Deputy Chief Commisoner Zulhasnan Najib Baharudin were all in attendance. Nurin’s small body was laid to rest after Friday prayers at 2.25pm followed by the recital of the Talqin burial rituals.

Nurin’s tragic story struck a chord with people across Kuala Lumpur and indeed the whole country. Marina Mahathir, the daughter of a former prime minister of Malaysia wrote about the murder on her popular blog. The title of the post was “Dear God why?” It summed up the national sentiment and conversation across the country centred on the horrific crime.  As I have already alluded to, the intense interest in the case led to some less than ethical journalism.

As Jazimin and Norazian struggled to come to terms with what had happened to their daughter they continued to be attacked in the press, and found themselves being blamed for her death. The grieving parents were heavily criticised by some politicians and journalists. The accusation levelled at them was that by allowing 7 year old Nurin to wander to the market on her own after dark they were guilty of child negligence. There was talk by a government minister that Nurin’s parents should be prosecuted under section 33 of the Malaysian Child Protection Act, 2001. If found guilty they could be fined up to 5000 Malaysian Ringgit or spend up to two years in prison.

There were others that stood up against this onslaught. The vice chairperson of the Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation Tan Siri Lee Lan Thye said the parents should not be prosecuted. Rather, the police and the public needed to come together in order to find those responsible instead of scapegoating the parents. Women, Family, and Community Development minister, Datiuk Seri Shahrizat Jazimin Jalil agreed, saying all efforts should be squarely focused on finding the criminals. 

People were horrified at what had happened. A reward was issued of 20,000 Malaysian Ringgit (RM) (a little over $2000). 10,000 Ringgit came from the police, which was matched by a local businessman who wished to remain anonymous.The horror of what had befallen Nurin stirred up a lot of debate concerning the treatment of sex offenders. Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Jaziminlah Ahmad Badawi argued more information should be given to local communities concerning the identities of paedophiles. He argued those found guilty of sexual offences against children should have their names and faces made public. 

The investigation into Nurin’s murder started in earnest on September 21st when a special team was assembled under the leadership of Federal CID director Christopher Won soo Kee. Investigators quickly grew concerned that the perpetrator may have already fled the area as the case was now garnering a lot of media attention. 

RMP surmised that the perpetrator was not from the area where the body had been left. They believed the body had been brought to the location from outsiders, not local residents, in order to try and throw investigators off the scent. Things moved swiftly, and on September 28th, less than a fortnight after Nurin’s body was discovered, five arrests were made in connection with the case. Those arrested were connected to a shop in Section 7 of Shah Alam, a city to the west of Petaling Jaya. This is about 25 miles, 40 km from Wangsa Maju where Nurin and her family lived.

Four men aged between 27 and 35 were detained in three separate raids. A woman was arrested the following day. The woman was released very quickly but the men were remanded for seven days. In the end all were released without charge after just three of the seven days. They were released because their DNA did not match foreign biological material found on Nurin’s body. I will come back to these arrests later on.

There was another separate arrest of an individual. I believe this happened at midnight on September 28th. A 23 year old Indonesian woman was detained at the Ramada Bazaar in the city of Nilai  within the state of Negeri Sembilan. This is a 45 minute drive south of Wangsa Maju and was about 9 miles,15 km from the rest area  in Seremban where a witness had reported seeing Nurin on September 5th. (Though if you remember investigators had discounted the sighting at the time). The woman worked as a sale assistant at a market stall selling clothes

She was wearing a yellow blouse with a batik design and brown long leggings when she was detained in a joint operation by officers from the Serious Crimes Division from Kuala Lumpur Police headquarters and Petaling Jaya district police. 

When the woman was being transported to Petaling Jaya magistrates court she was seen swallowing a SIM card she had hidden on her person. It was the type used in a mobile or cell phone. When the woman arrived at the court she collapsed at the sight of the dozens of photographers who were there waiting. She had to be carried in by a woman police officer.

The woman was then swiftly  taken to the University of Malaya medical centre by the RMP to be put under observation with the hope that they would be able to retrieve the SIM card once it had passed through her body. While at the medical facility the woman refused to eat.

According to an article on the Malaysia newsite Malaysiakini this woman was believed to have been responsible for feeding Nurin while she was held captive. An article in the Rakyat Post in 2020 the sim card was alleged to have been used to send a text message to a police hotline in which the sender claimed Nurin was with them.

By the time the SIM was retrieved no information could be collected from it. The gastric stomach juices had completely destroyed it. With no evidence the woman was released from custody. I believe the RMP then handed her over to the immigration department as she did not have valid travel documents and was in the country illegally. The woman was sent to the Semenyih detention centre to await deportation.

Shortly after this, on October 9th, photographs from Nurin’s post mortem examination were leaked and quickly began circulating via email across the country. Selangor Chief of Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar vowed there would be an investigation under the Official Secrets Act. He warned that anyone sharing the images could be prosecuted under the Act, or for the possession of porngraphic material. As part of the investigation two police photographers present at the post-mortem were questioned. I have read that the identity of the person responsible for the leak was discovered. This was an unnecessary distraction in the hunt for the killer and heaped yet more stress and heartache on Nurin’s struggling family. Jazimin later sued the Malaysia government and the police for negligence over this issue. The matter culminated in an out of court settlement.

Local Malaysian company Upward Network decided they wanted to do something to support the beleaguered family. They paid for them to travel north to Norazian’s mothers home in Selama Perak. They stayed there for the muslim celebration of Eid al-fitr. In wake of the murder Jazimin had not been able to continue his job as a taxi driver. When the family returned from their trip, Upward Network offered Jazimin a new job. 

October 11th saw the RMP release CCTV footage captured near the Jaybook Distribution Company premises. The first video was taken from a camera overlooking the building at 1pm on September 16th, that is the afternoon before Nurin’s body was found. It showed a man, estimated to be in his 30's, riding up on a motorcycle. He had with him the blue and black Diadora gym bag. He pulled up, got off the bike and removed his helmet. He then wanders out of view before returning to the bike, picking up the holdall and again disappearing from view. The man then returns, having left the holdall on the ground by the steps and rides away. Due to the poor quality of the images the man’s face could not be clearly seen. 

Further footage from an hour later at 2pm showed a woman wearing a red top and jeans loitering very close to the gym bag. A silver Perodua Kenari (a Malaysian made, boxy shaped, city car) drove up with three men inside.  The Perodua remains there for a little while before the passenger door opens and a man wearing a horizontal striped t-shirt briefly emerges before going back inside the vehicle. He then exits the car again and then the driver door opens. At that point the woman in red walks past the Perodua which she ignores. It looks like she is on her phone. The man in the striped t-shirt walks out of view before returning to the car and opening the back door on the driver's side. A larger man in what looks like a yellow t-shirt exists. He is carrying something. It looks like rope but I can't be sure. This man goes around to the opposite side of the car and sits in the front passenger seat. The man in the striped t-shirt gets in the back passenger side seat. At this point the woman in red suddenly comes back into view  and walks right up to the Perodua and gets into the back seat vacated by the man in yellow. The car then drives off. 

 Unfortunately the licence plate on the motorbike and the car could not be seen. The faces of the individuals in the footage were also too grainy to make out details. 

The footage was sent to the FBI to see if they could use the latest techniques to sharpen the images. Even the FBI’s top specialists were not able to clean up the footage in order to see the licence plates or massively improve the images of the faces. 

A photofit was issued by the RMP of the woman in the red top. Her image, while still pixelated, was clearer than the others. She was said to have been in her 20’s and 5ft or 153cm. Another photfit was produced of a seperate man the police were keen to trace. He had rented a room for himself and a young girl he said was his daughter in Bangsar residential quarters around the time Nurin disappeared. This is a 25 minute drive south east of Wangsa Maju. The man was aged between 35 and 40, stood at 5ft 6, 168cm and had a fair complexion. 

After this information was released it prompted the Mayalasia Director of the Federal CID Christopher Wan Soo Kee to say that Nurin’s murder may be linked to a child abuse network operating in the area. Her case bore similarities to two kidnappings that had taken place in June and July 2007, just a month or so before Nurin was taken. 

On separate occasions a 5 year old and 6 year old girl had been tricked into going with a man on a motorcycle. I believe the 6 year old was outside a Mosque when she was approached. The incidents both occurred in Kampung Baru, right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. 

The motorcyclist had approached each girl claiming he was looking for his pet cat. He asked for their help in finding the cat and in return promised to buy them an ice-cream. The children were then abducted and sexually assaulted. The girls were eventually released and allowed to return to their families. Sickeningly, just as in Nurin’s case both survivors had been assaulted with brinjal or eggplants. Federal CID director Christopher Wan see Kee confirmed that in light of Nurin’s murder they were reexamining the two cases. 

The young survivors of these assaults were interviewed by police but are said to have given contradictory evidence. I’m not sure exactly what this means as they were only 5 and 6. A photofit of the abuser was not able to be made and neither survivor could tell where they had been held captive. The unknown perpetrator of those crimes became known as the Kampung Baru Molester and it was thought this person could also be responsible for Nurin’s murder.

Four months after Nurin’s body was found it looked like the perpetrator had struck again. 

Sharlinie Mohd Nashar was born on January 30th 2004. The little girl was affectionately called “Nini” by her parents, Dad Mohd Nashar Mat Hussein and Mum, Suraya Ahmad. The little girl was approaching her 4th birthday when on January 9th 2008 she disappeared from a playground near her home. Sharlinie has not been seen since. As a note a lot of reports state Sharlinie’s age as 5 so it may be that the date of birth I have found is incorrect. 

That morning Sharlinie had left her family's two storey terraced house in Taman Dato Harun, Petaling Jaya, with her 8 year old sister. They had walked 200m to a children's playground where they had played for about 30 minutes. At some point whilst playing the sister became aware that Sharlinie was no longer in the playground. She had disappeared. At 11.30am the sister returned to the family apartment alone and informed her mother that Sharlinie was missing. After searching for two hours without any luck the police were called. Sharlinie’s toy doll was later found in the playground by local residents. 

Sharlinie was 3 feet 2 or 97 cm tall, with a slight build, round face and tanned complexion. She had short hair and when she was last seen was wearing a light blue t-shirt, skirt and pink slippers. As in Nurin’s case Sharlinie’s parents were especially concerned for their daughter because she had a health condition. Sharlinie had asthma and used ventolin inhalers for the condition. 

Local unconfirmed reports said Sharlinie had been persuaded into a black car by an unknown man. A photofit of this man was released within a day of Sharlinie going missing. It was suspected this could be a man  known as Lelaki or “Cat man”. He had recently tricked several young girls to go with him to help search for his pet cat. You'll remember this is the same ruse employed by the man who had abducted two girls in the months before Nurin was taken. Just two days before Sharlinie vanished a girl had been abducted by this man but was found unharmed three hours later. This happened 15 miles, 25 km away in Wangsu Maju. (Where Nurin was from). A photofit was created of “Catman” based on survivor testimonies. Try as they might, investigators could find anything to definitively tie this abduction to that of Sharlinie.

Sharlinie’s sister, who had been at the playground that morning, told some newspaper reporters that Sharlinie had been persuaded to get into a car by a woman with shoulder length hair wearing high heel shoes. 24 hours later her father told the public to disregard that story and claimed it was probably not true. 

A week or so after Sharlinie’s disappearance there was an attempted abduction of a six year old girl near flats in Taman Medan. This is just over a mile, or 1 or 2 km from the playground where Sharlinie went missing. It was reported that the cases could be connected. 

Like Nurin’s case the investigation was plagued by prank callers, false information and unethical reporting. One paper even published Sharlinie’s parents’ personal mobile phone numbers.

One potential sighting of Sharlinie did materialise when someone reported seeing  a girl and an unidentified woman in a white van 15 miles,  25 km east of Cheras, a township in south-east Kuala Lumpur. The people in the white van were never traced. 

The suspicion was that Sharlinie had been the victim of human trafficking, but an article in Malaysia Today from February 2nd 2008 said at that time police believed her to still be in Malaysia. National police Chief Musa Hassan utilised staff power from Bukit Aman (police headquarters) and from wider areas in Selangor. He pleaded with the public to come forward and provide the breakthrough needed to find Sharlinie. 

 A reward fund totaling 17,000 Ringgit  was raised by members of the community and businessman Vincent Tan increased it to 100,000 Ringgit. A public appeal was even made by the prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawai and leaders from across the political spectrum met with the family to offer support. 

Shortly after Sharlinie went missing, RMP officers arrested two men in connection with the spate of abductions. One man was apprehended at some disused SAL college buildings at Jalan tun Razak. (SAL stands for Loyalty, Trustworthiness and Nobility and the college had been closed since 2006). This is a 20 minute drive south of Wangsa Maju. 42.31 The other man was arrested in Jalan Haji Taib, an infamous red light district situated in the old part of Kuala Lumpur. Both men were said to have worked as security guards and one worked as a night guard at the abandoned college. It was theorised that abducted children had been held on the premises. The site had originally been government offices, before being taken over by the college site. It consisted of rows of two storey bungalows sprayed with graffiti and courtyards overgrown with vegetation. It was a very foreboding place. 

The two arrested men were not thought to be the main leaders of the child abuse ring but it was alleged their job was to guard the buildings where the children were held. As far as I can see these men were not prosecuted and the lead went cold.

Despite this, Nurin’s and Sharlinie’s stories continued to be talked about throughout the country. A television movie based on both girls was aired on Malaysian television in June 2008.  

A couple of months after this in August 2008 a young girl was kidnapped as she was waiting at a bus stop near Sungai Kapar Indhad in the city of Klang. This location is 30 minutes south east of Petaling Jaya. Thankfully the girl was able to escape and get away. Before she did so she had been held in the back of a white van. The survivor said on the wall of the van was a photograph of Sharlinie.  There were other photographs of little girls, some of which were marked with an x. The survivor said five men had been involved in her kidnapping. As far as I am aware they have not been identified. 

December 13th 2008 saw yet another abduction.  A  9 year old girl was taken from Kampung Selayang Baru in the north of Kuala Lumpur. She was released after three hours. The survivor was able to give a description of her kidnapper. It was very similar to a photofit of the man believed to have taken Sharlinie.

It is unknown how many of the abductions and failed kidnappings I have mentioned are connected. It certainly looks as though this is not the work of a single predator but an organised network or networks of offenders. There are other murdered and missing children I have come across in my research. Three alone from 2009, though these are older children and teenagers. 

Salanawati Sadarudin was 15 when she was raped and strangled on her way home from school in Kampung Gum Gum Manis Sandakan. This is over 2000 miles, around 3500 km away from Kuala Lumpur in the far east of the country. Lee Yong Hwa aged 14 vanished in November 2009 and has not been seen since and an unnamed girl was found strangled with a piece of cloth around her neck near Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur. 

While it is doubtful these crimes are connected to the Kampung Molester and the cases of Nurin Jazlin and Sharlinie Mohd Nashar it speaks of a wider issue of misogyny and violence towards children and women. A CNN article from 2017 written by Malaysian/British lawyer Animah Kosai from “The Speaking up Network'' suggests that misogyny is a serious problem within Malaysia. This in turn breeds an aggressive culture towards women which inevitably leads to sexual violence. Kosai calls for more men in Malaysia to break ranks and become champions for gender equality, standing alongside women in the fight. This is the hope for Malaysia's future.

In 2012 it was announced that two of the four men who were arrested in connection with Nurin’s murder back at the end of September 2007 were awarded compensation for wrongful arrest. They said they were framed and released when this became obvious for the investigators to see. 

When they were arrested they were not taken through the appropriate legal procedures and were not even told of the reason for their being detained. One of the men, a successful cloth merchant and businessman, had been driving in his car when he suddenly found himself surrounded by police vehicles. His wife who was 8 months pregnant at the time was dragged from the car. He himself was handcuffed and elbowed in the head. He was then driven by police to his place of work where the man's brother-in-law was also arrested and kicked by police. The pregnant wife was also arrested but released the same day.

The men, now aged 38 and 33, claimed they had been hit and kicked on the head, neck and chest by police officers while they were detained at the police station. 

The pictures of all four men arrested were printed in some newspapers. Most ensured the images were pixelated but one Malaysian newspaper did not and the faces could be clearly seen. The publication later had to print an apology. 

As a result of the experience the businessman and his brother-in-law said they had suffered injury, stress and stigma from being wrongfully associated with such an awful crime. They were awarded 41,500 Ringgit and 31,500 Ringgitt respectively, the equivalent of between 6500 and 8000 US dollars. The decision was appealed by police but the courts stood by the original verdict.

In terms of both Nurin’s and Shalinie’s cases there has been little progress over the last decade, though there has been the odd glimmer of hope. A few years ago in 2021 a Tik Tok video was posted by a young woman who told a story about almost being abducted when she was a little girl. On her journey to primary school a man riding a motorcycle and wearing a helmet pulled up outside a grocery shop she happened to be passing. The man has asked the girl if she would like to see his pet cats. Something about the man made the girl not trust him and she ignored his invitation and went inside the shop. Even after all these years the young woman still had a clear memory of the man who had approached her that day. However, it seems nothing came of this and the Tik Tok video is no longer available.  

Nurin’s family attempted to do something to help other families who find themselves in a similar situation. Nurin’s uncle, together with bloggers and community groups, lobbied the Malaysian government to invest in protecting children from abuse. Their commitment paid off.

Nurin’s legacy was the creation of the Nationwide Urgent Response Information Network in 2011.(Abbreviated by the acronym N.U.R.I.N). This was based on the Amber alert system established in the USA following the abduction and murder of 9 year old Amber Hagerman in 1996. The Amber alert system uses various communication channels, such as news outlets, hotels, Bank ATMs and social media apps to spread information quickly and efficiently. NURIN operated in a similar way. It was a hotline and communication system to quickly distribute information about the potential abduction of a minor. When Nurin was first abducted the responsibility fell on the family themselves to make sure her case was publicised. 

A few years later the name of  the alert  system was changed from NURIN to Talian Nur. The family were disappointed by this and would like to see the name returned. I have read that the system itself has evolved to include domestic violence cases. It has been argued this has stretched the system and there are now calls to relaunch a hotline solely dedicated to the protection and safeguarding of children.

Sharlinie’s parents have never given up hope of finding their missing daughter and over the ensuing years have given countless interviews to keep their daughter in the mind of the public. After their daughter's disappearance they moved away to be near the father Mohd Nashar’s family. In the aftermath of Sharlinie’s disappearance, understandably, the couple have been very protective of their other children and have always kept a vigilant eye on them.

They miss their daughter terribly and will never give up looking for her. They remember Sharlinie’s smile and laughter. They still have some of her clothing as a keepsake. In an interview with Kosmo in January 2024,  marking the 16th anniversary of Sharlinie’s disappearance, her mother Suraya says it is always a sad time of the year but she still believes her daughter is alive.  

Jazimin and Norazian now reside in a small flat in Setapak. Speaking in 2021 Nurin’s father Jazimin said that although tragic, if his child had been lost in an accident he would have eventually been able to come to terms with it. To have a child taken from him in such an evil manner he simply cannot accept. Without justice he will never have peace. In light of the vast advances in forensic technology he has called for her case to be reopened.

Jazimin has always kept Nurin’s memory alive by constantly talking about her. When his other children were small he would take them to Nurin’s graveside every Friday so they could remember their sister. A few years after Nurin was murdered, Jaziin and Norazian had another child, a boy. He too was told about his sister and by age two knew the way to her grave. 

Jazimin has kept himself busy with work. He is a bodyguard, taxi driver and the owner of a food stall. He keeps a picture of Nurin at the back of the stall. Many of his customers recognise her picture from media reports and ask him about her. Jazimin thinks about the kind of young woman she would have grown up to be. 

On September 11th 2023 Jazimin posted on facebook “Happy 24th Birthday to my child kak Ngah. Miss you. There was a big response from people wishing the family well and sending sympathy over their loss. 

As of the recording of this podcast episode in June 2024 what happened to Sharlinie Mohd Nashar remains unknown and the killer or killers of Nurin Jazlin have not yet been apprehended.

Sources https://tinyurl.com/bdzcpxk5