NONOI MURDER TRIAL
Did Nonoi stand a chance?
MUMMY, STEPDAD & LITTLE GIRL LOST
By Andre Yeo and Ng Hui Hui
April 15, 2007
IN her two short years, Nur Asyura Mohamed went through pain and suffering most adults would not have experienced in their lifetime.
(From left) Madam Mastura, Nonoi, and her stepfather Mohammed Ali.
Fondly called Nonoi, she was found dead under a flyover. Her stepfather, Mohammed Ali Johari, 30, is accused of killing her on 1Mar last year.
In his statement to the police, he admitted severely abusing her, but said her death was an accident.
But even before Nonoi's short, sad life ended, life with her mother would have been an emotional roller-coaster ride.
Madam Mastura Kamsir, 23, had two affairs while she was married to Mr Mohammed Fauzi Abdul Kadil Fauzi, 24. The couple, both school dropouts, married in 2000.
Nonoi was the result of the first affair. Madam Mastura gave birth to her on 2 May 2003 in hospital while serving a six-month sentence for an unspecified offence.
Her marriage was on the rocks, and Nonoi died not knowing her real father - Mr Khairul Mohd Amin.
While she was barely 9months old, Nonoi was hospitalised at the National University Hospital for respiratory and urinary tract infection.
Two weeks later, she was hospitalised again, this time for chronic seizure.
Both times, Madam Mastura admitted that she was unaware of Nonoi's poor health as she was in jail at the time.
In 2004, while still married to MrMohammed Fauzi, she met Mohammed Ali and affair number two began.
The eldest of nine children, he had said in one of his statements to the police last March that he got to know Madam Mastura while they were working in Jurong.
He knew she was still married to Mr Mohammed Fauzi and had two children.
Mohammed Ali himself was also still married and had three children, but his marriage was also on the rocks.
Still, it did not stop him and Madam Mastura from having an affair. In August 2004, he got her pregnant.
MOVED OUT
While still married to their respective spouses, they moved into her mother's flat at Ghim Moh Road.
She gave birth to their son, Daniel, during Chinese New Year in 2005.
Mohammed Ali got divorced first, then Madam Mastura divorced MrMohammed Fauzi later that year.
They moved into their flat at Pipit Road and, on 30 Nov 2005, they finally got married.
Nonoi continued to stay with her maternal grandmother, MadamRozanah, 44.
But just as the toddler was learning to speak and starting to address Madam Rozanah as her mother, she was taken to live with Madam Mastura and Mohammed Ali at their Pipit Road flat.
By his own admission, Mohammed Ali said he used Nonoi as cover when he wanted to smoke marijuana at home.
He felt it was unlikely that the police would check him while he was with her.
Besides this, he rarely spent time with her.
He said: 'I had never bathed or changed diapers for Nonoi or Daniel. It was not my job.'
He also admitted to not looking after the children in the evening as his mother would do that.
During the day when MadamMastura went to work, Nonoi was sent to Mohammed Ali's parents' three-room ground floor flat at Circuit Road.
Space was a luxury as besides his parents, four of Mohammed Ali's siblings also lived there.
On weekends, Nonoi returned to Madam Rozanah's flat.
In short, Nonoi shuttled between three different homes.
It didn't help that Mohammed Ali was jobless, but 'would go out and look for friends'.
He depended on Madam Mastura, a masseuse, to support the family.
He said he worked as a despatch rider 'as and when informed by friends'.
Besides marijuana, Mohammed Ali was also addicted to cough syrup. He would smoke the drug at home and would take the cough mixture every night.
He kept his addictions hidden from Madam Mastura, but he suspected she knew about it even though she had never asked him about it.
Things changed on 1 Mar when Nonoi went missing.
She was allegedly dunked in a pail of water, her body stripped bare of what little dignity she had.
After she died, she was covered with dirty plastic bags and bottles and a heap of rubbish.
The Health Science Authority's pathologist, associate professor Gilbert Lau, said: 'There was a fair amount of bleeding and haemorrhage in and around the area of the rupture (of her vagina).
'The injuries in all probability caused the deceased some considerable pain.'
The disturbing details of Nonoi's last moments angered MadamRozanah.
When she went to court on Monday, she refused to look at Mohammed Ali or his family members.
She said Mohammed Ali's mother had apologised to her about Nonoi's death last year, but it could hardly soften the blow.
'She knows what her son had done. I don't have to say anything,' she said.
NO CONTACT
She has not spoken to them since the tragedy.
Mohammed Ali's family used to visit Daniel at Madam Rozanah's flat, but that too has stopped.
When asked about Madam Mastura's affairs, Madam Rozanah said: 'Mastura is still my daughter no matter what she has done. She doesn't tell me about her relationships.'
Much to Madam Rozanah's unhappiness, Madam Mastura visits Mohammed Ali twice a week.
Sometimes, they quarrel over it, but Madam Rozanah said she had no right to stop her.
'Daniel is his son. If he wants Mastura to take him to see him, Mastura has to. She is married to him,' she said.
Last month, she and Madam Mastura visited Nonoi's grave with flowers and prayed for about 20minutes before leaving.
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Troubled background a recipe for disaster
NONOI'S dysfunctional family is a breeding ground for wayward behaviour, said experts.
Studies by the Subordinate Courts have shown that one-third of juvenile offenders and almost half of the children deemed beyond parental control come from single-parent families.
Madam Sophia Ang, deputy director of the Family and Juvenile Justice Centre at the Subordinate Courts, told The Straits Times recently: 'It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you a chaotic family situation creates trauma in a child who's growing up.'
Nonoi did not come from a single-parent family, but there is no doubt that her family background was chaotic.
Consultant psychiatrist DrBrian Yeo said: 'Ideally, a child shouldn't be put through such circumstances.
'There are a lot of adjustments when parents divorce and remarry. At 2, she may not be able to understand why this is happening.
'Some young children may see it as a punishment to be taken away from their primary caregiver.'
He added: 'It would be hard for her to form a familiar support network in this way.'
Children who come from large families have to fight for their parents' attention.
Social worker Ms Jean Quek said: 'Parents may show favouritism.'
Dr Yeo said: 'There are so few hours to be shared among so many children and obligations. It is inevitable that she will feel neglected.'
Whether or not the child eventually makes it in life depends on external factors.
Ms Quek said: 'The child needs a strong support network of responsible adults who can guide her and give her sound advice.'
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MUMMY, STEPDAD & LITTLE GIRL LOST 
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