The pupils comprising six girls and one boy had run away from their hostel at SK Tohoi fearing punishment by their teacher for bathing in the river without permission.
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The remains of a child was found by search and rescue personnel on the banks of Sungai Perias on October 10, 2015.
Zahid, who is on a working visit to the United States, extended his condolences to the families of four Orang Asli pupils of SK Tohoi residential school in Kelantan who were found dead after having gone missing together with three others since August 23. The girl, “almost looking like a skeleton”, was put on a drip.
They were found on Friday emaciated and malnourished.
Although the schoolgirls survived the ordeal in the forest, they experienced the pain of witnessing the death of their schoolmate, whose skeletal remains were found near them.
Supt Saiful Bahri said although Sasa’s body was identified by her father, the authorities would only make a confirmation after a DNA test is completed.
“I knew that it was Sasa based on a birthmark and the earring that she wore”, he said.
The skeletal remains of a child, which included a human skull and torso, were recovered by Senoi Praaq General Operation Force members at the riverbank at about 4pm yesterday.
However, search parties also found the remains of another child with the two survivors.
It was responding to a news report from a TV station on Saturday titled “Pos Tohoi orang asli children were treated badly – activist”, which had quoted a woman who had accused Jakoa of failing to provide adequate care to the victims and their families.
Kelantan Orang Asli Youth Network chairman Dendi Johari said the orang asli children were not familiar with the terrain in the jungle and were likely to face difficulty finding their way and surviving.
He said this is to ensure that such a tragedy can never happen again to school children in Malaysia, whether Orang Asli kids or otherwise, in the country.
Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang wants the government to suspend or charge with negligence those responsible for causing the case of the missing Orang Asli children, in which two children were found so far. “So they learn everything from here”.
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“If they had stayed with their parents in the village, their parents would have taught them to recognize the various trees and leaves which are edible”, he said.
