Mother accepts son's death after month-long wait and search

Salmah Shamsudin, 72, has found a measure of peace after more than a month of uncertainty regarding her son, Shahir Zainul, 46. She received the news of his passing at Penang Hospital (HPP) after evening prayers on Saturday, when a friend of Shahir's informed her of his death on June 11.

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My son's friend told me about this (that my son had died at HPP), I only found out after Isyak prayers. We came to the hospital last night, and I brought Shahir's children with me.

"My son's friend told me about this (that my son had died at HPP), I only found out after Isyak prayers," Salmah said, speaking to reporters at the HPP Forensic Unit. "We came to the hospital last night, and I brought Shahir's children with me."

Despite the grief of losing her youngest child, Salmah expressed gratitude for finally knowing Shahir's fate after he went missing on June 10. "I feel relieved because we finally know. At least we know where he is. It's heavy, but I'm comforting myself. We as a family accept it. At least we know what happened and where he is. All this time we were just wondering and hoping he would return."

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I feel relieved because we finally know. At least we know where he is. It's heavy, but I'm comforting myself. We as a family accept it. At least we know what happened and where he is. All this time we were just wondering and hoping he would return.

Shahir's two children, aged 13 and 15, will continue to live with their grandmother, as she has cared for them since they were young. The search and rescue operation for Shahir, which began on June 21, was called off on Saturday after no new leads were found. A hospital announcement on June 21 about an unclaimed body had been issued in an effort to locate relatives. The family's identification on Saturday confirmed the body was Shahir's.

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They both will be cared for by me. I have been looking after them since they were young.