2006 high-profile child rape and murder case in Singapore
Nurasyura binte Mohamed Fauzi was a two-year-old Malay girl from Singapore who was raped and murdered. Nurasyura, better known as Nonoi, had gone missing on 1 March 2006, and a highly publicized search ensued; three days later her stepfather, Mohammed Ali bin Johari, confessed to what he claimed was an accidental death, and he led police to her body. An autopsy revealed that the girl was drowned to death and was sexually assaulted before her death. On 31 August 2007, after an 8-day hearing, the High Court found Mohammed Ali, who repeatedly denied raping Nonoi, guilty of murder and sentenced him to death.
Subsequently, the Court of Appeal of Singapore, while dismissing Mohammed Ali's appeal on 22 April 2008, had also found him guilty of raping Nonoi even though the prosecution had not formally made an additional charge of rape against him in the first place. After staying on death row for another 8 months since the loss of his appeal, Mohammed Ali was hanged on 19 December 2008. The case had been a shock to Singaporeans since its occurrence and aftermath, spawning a 2009 TV adaptation of the case and a publication of the case by Singapore's national newspaper "The Straits Times" in 2015.
Disappearance.
Search for Nonoi.
On the Wednesday evening of 1 March 2006, at a ground floor, 3-room unit at Block 62, Circuit Road, two-year-old Nurasyura binte Mohamed Fauzi, affectionately known as "Nonoi", went missing. A search was conducted by her family and relatives; the neighbours, police, and some strangers joined in the search and distributed flyers. The search was widely reported in the newspapers, with the police making an appeal to the public for any information about the girl's whereabouts. Her step-grandfather, 59-year-old Johari bin Mohammed Yus, the owner of the Circuit Road flat, had last seen her at around 7 pm before he began his evening prayers; he was also the one who reported her missing.
Confession and arrest.
Three days later, on 4 March, at his Pipit Road flat and Nonoi's home, 29-year-old Mohammed Ali bin Johari, the girl's stepfather, suddenly broke down and tearfully confessed to his wife - Mdm Mastura binte Kamsir (aged 22) - and his elderly mother-in-law - Rozanah binte Salleh - that it was his fault and asked for forgiveness. He said to them in Malay, "Nonoi, dah tak ada" (meaning "Nonoi, no more"). Much to the shock, anger and grief of the women, Mohammed Ali admitted that Nonoi was dead and that he had no intention to kill her. According to Mdm Rozanah, upon hearing her son-in-law's confession, she suspected that her son-in-law must have done something bad to her granddaughter. Upon further questioning, Mohammed Ali said that he had immersed Nonoi inside a pail of water and this caused her to die, but maintained that he did not intend to cause her death and told the women that he will inform the police about this.
After he turned himself in at Bedok Police Station, Mohammed Ali then led the police to the Aljunied Flyover along the Pan Island Expressway, where the partially decomposed and naked body of a female toddler with shoulder-length hair was found at the lowest portion of the flyover. DNA tests were conducted and it was certified that the body belonged to the missing Nonoi. As Mohammed Ali was brought away by police, several enraged neighbours and strangers shouted expletives at him, who had been putting up a charade by praying for his stepdaughter's safety and asking for help while taking part in the search.
Indictment and remand.
On 7 March 2006, three days after his arrest, 29-year-old Mohammed Ali was charged with murder. The day when he was charged, Mohammed Ali gestured to his family members for their forgiveness and to tell them that he loves them. However, for once, Mohammed Ali did not look at his wife, who was sitting together with her mother separately from her in-laws. Both sides of the family, visibly shaken by the events that took place, did not speak to the media. Before the tragic death of Nonoi at the hands of Mohammed Ali, the families of her mother and stepfather were originally close to one another, and they often chatted and ate together; for which Nonoi was the main reason that brought them together.
After he was charged, on 13 March 2007, Mohammed Ali was ordered to be remanded at Changi Prison Complex Medical Centre for psychiatric evaluation. Three weeks later, on 3 April 2006, Mohammed Ali was ordered to be further remanded for three more weeks for more psychiatric assessments.
Cause of death.
After the police retrieved Nonoi's body, consultant forensic pathologist and Associate Professor Dr Gilbert Lau of the Centre for Forensic Medicine (Health Sciences Authority) conducted a post-mortem examination of the little girl's corpse on 5 March 2006. In his autopsy report, Dr Lau wrote that the examination of the "external genitalia showed extensive laceration of the fourchette, associated with apparent obliteration of the hymen and localised, acute haemorrhage", meaning that there are cuts in her genital area and her hymen was completely destroyed - these external injuries are consistent with sexual assault.
Not only that, Dr Lau also found that the lungs of the child was full of water and over-expanded, which was consistent with being drowned or immersed in water. However, despite his findings, Dr Lau was unable to fully ascertain the true cause of death. He testified in court that the sexual injuries were not sufficient in the ordinary cause of nature to cause death. He wrote that the most possible reason behind Nonoi's death was due to her being immersed or drowned in water while adding in two alternative causes of death - a seizure or abnormal heart rhythm, though Dr Lau said Nonoi's death was probably not part of a natural process. On the side-note, the results for any semen or DNA around the vaginal area of the deceased tested negative.
Burial.
On 8 March 2006, Nonoi was buried at Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery, after a brief funeral held by her family at Pusara Aman Mosque. It was reported at that time that Nonoi's mother could not leave her after her burial and the paternal grandmother of the girl fainted in the middle of the funeral. Mohamed Fauzi bin Abdul Kadil, Nonoi's father and Mdm Mastura's first husband before her marriage to Mohammed Ali, was present at the funeral. There were 200 people attending Nonoi's funeral, including the brothers of Nonoi's stepfather.
Background.
Mohammed Ali bin Johari (Nonoi's stepfather).
Born to Johari bin Mohammed Yus and Fatimah binte Yusoff, Mohammed Ali grew up together with a few siblings in his family. Mohammed Ali was reported to be a drug addict who abused marijuana and cough syrup and others; this habit continued until his arrest on 4 March 2006. At the time of his arrest, Mohammed Ali was working as a freelance dispatch driver. Mohammed Ali was married when he was 16 years old and had three children. He first met Mdm Mastura in 2005 and got her pregnant in that same year, leading to his divorce with his first wife and she gained custody of all their three children. According to his ex-wife, Mohammed Ali was a "jealous husband" and "impatient man" with a quick temper. Mohammed Ali and Mastura married, after she similarly divorced her first husband Mohamed Fauzi bin Abdul Kadil.
In the divorce proceedings with her first husband, Mastura gained custody of Nonoi, who was one of Mastura's three children from her first marriage, while the other two children, a son and another daughter went to live with their father. Effectively, Nonoi became Mohammed Ali's stepdaughter. After the marriage between Mohammed Ali and Mastura, the couple had another son. The family of four resided in a one-room flat in Pipit Road. During his time of marriage, Mohammed Ali maintained a close relationship with his parents and unmarried siblings (who lived together with their parents).
Mastura binte Kamsir (Nonoi's mother).
Born in 1984, Mastura was the daughter of Rozanah binte Salleh and an unnamed father. Mastura dropped out of school at age 14, and two years later, in 2000, at age 16, she was pregnant and married to Mohamed Fauzi bin Abdul Kadil. Her first two children, a son and daughter, were both born in the same year she married Mohamed Fauzi.
At age 19, Mastura was charged in court with an unknown offence and was subsequently sentenced to imprisonment. During the period of her incarceration, Mastura, gave birth to her third child, Nonoi, on 2 May 2003. However, during the trial of Mohammed Ali, DNA tests revealed that Nonoi was actually not Mohamed Fauzi's biological daughter. The biological father of Nonoi was actually another Malay man, only named as Khairul, with whom Mdm Mastura had an affair a year prior to her imprisonment.
After her release, Mastura met Mohammed Ali in 2005, and became pregnant with his child. Because of this, Mastura divorced her husband, who took custody of their elder two children, while she had Nonoi. She married Mohammed Ali in November 2005, and they lived with Nonoi and the son they had together. At the time of her daughter's death, Mdm Mastura was working as a traditional masseuse.
Trial and sentencing.
Trial.
On 26 January 2007, at a preliminary hearing of the case in the courts of Singapore, the judge presiding it decided that there is enough evidence to prosecute Mohammed Ali for murder. The trial was set to take place the following month, but it did not.
On 4 April 2007, more than a year after he raped and killed Nonoi, 30-year-old Mohammed Ali stood trial in the High Court of Singapore before High Court judge Kan Ting Chiu, who heard the case. The prosecution in charge of prosecuting Mohammed Ali consist of 4 members: Deputy Public Prosecutors Christopher Ong, Tan Wee Soon, Stanley Kok Pin Chin and Vinesh Winodan of the Attorney-General's Chambers. In his trial, Mohammed Ali was represented by two lawyers, R S Bajwa and Sarindar Singh. The 8-day trial, which dragged on for four months from April to August in the year 2007, was reported extensively in Singapore media. Under Singapore law, if Mohammed Ali was found guilty of murder, he would be sentenced to death.
Initial account.
Mohammed Ali, in his police statements prior to his trial (which he also said in his defence), maintained that he did not rape the girl and would never do it as he loved Nonoi like his own flesh and blood, and that he immersed the girl in water with the purpose of merely wanting to stop her from crying (he told the police and court that Nonoi, who was normally a cheerful child, for some reason, kept crying on the day itself and did not stop). Mohammed Ali also argued he did not intend to kill her, and accidentally immersed Nonoi in water for a longer period of time after doing so two times while picking up an incoming phone call. Going further, he said that on the day of the murder itself, he left his children at his parents' flat and went shopping with Mastura as it was her payday. After lunchtime, he sent her to work before returning to his parents' flat (as he was not working on that day). Mohammed Ali told the police that, after a short while, he decided to bring out his stepdaughter for a walk. From that point onwards, he said, Nonoi started to cry. He brought her to a provision shop but she did not want him to buy sweets for her and she wanted to go back to her step-grandparents' flat. He later went to visit a friend who also lived in Circuit Road like his parents, but the friend was not at home, so he went back to his Pipit Road home with Nonoi. When alone at home with Nonoi, she kept crying and she continued so even after he turned on both the television and radio and raised his voice at her several times to keep quiet.
To stop her crying, Mohammed Ali said he slapped her and hit her legs. When it did not work, Mohammed Ali dunked her briefly in a pail half-filled with water head-down once, and when Nonoi continued to cry, he filled the pail to three quarters full with water before doing it