PETALING JAYA: The mother of William Yau Zhen Zhong told the Coroner’s Court here yesterday that she received a threatening telephone call a few days after her son went missing.
Housewife Goh Ying Ying, 26, said she received the call on Jan 20 and the caller, a Chinese, demanded RM80,000 for her son’s return.
“The man said ‘if I want my son, within two days, raise RM80,000’ and then hung up,” she said in an inquest proceeding to determine to cause of William’s death.
William was reported missing on Jan 16 at Jalan Putra Mahkota, Putra Heights, Subang Jaya, after he reportedly left the family car to look for his parents who went to an electrical shop.
His body was found on Jan 24 at the Kampung Sungai Sireh jetty.
Goh, who is the third witness, said she also heard a child’s voice in the background when she requested to hear her son’s voice during the telephone conversation with the man.
“I heard a child calling ‘mummy, mummy’, but could not be sure if that was William’s voice,” she said when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Lee Keng Fatt.
She also could not identify whether the child’s voice was that of a girl or boy Meanwhile, William’s father, Yau Kok Kang, 33, who owns a motorcycle workshop, told the court that he had no business problems, although he did have some debts with the suppliers, but it was normal in the business.
“I also never have any misunderstanding with my customers,” he said when asked by Coroner Mohd Hezri Shaharil.
Yau, the second witness in the inquest proceeding, told the court that he had never received any threats from his customers or former workers.
Asked about William’s fractured rib bone, Yau said he only knew about it after he was informed by the doctor who did a post mortem on his son.
Coroner Mohd Hezri set March 20 to visit the location in Putra Height, Subang Jaya, where William was reported missing.
The inquest proceeding continues on April 22. — Bernama