The wife of Tayudin Anjut, one of the fishermen abducted by Abu Sayyaf militants, was so afraid of the effect the news would have on her two young children that she lied to them about their father’s whereabouts.

Gustia Sultan, 47, kept the abduction a secret from her children to spare them the emotional trauma, especially her older child, Nurerin Farisha, 13, who was sitting for her UPSR trial exams the day after the abduction.

She also lied to her younger child, Mohd Fahirin, five, by saying his father had gone fishing and had not returned whenever he asked.

“Usually, their father would return from fishing within a week but as the days went on, they kept asking for him.

“I kept telling him that he was out fishing and has not returned,” she said, relating the very difficult times she had to go through in the eight months after Tayudin and four other crew members of the Serudong Tiga tugboat were taken by the militants near Lahad Datu on July 18 last year.

The children finally learnt of the kidnapping about a month after the incident when a teacher at their school asked the children to pray for the safety of the kidnapped crew.

“After the prayers, Fahirin came home and asked me if it was true that her father was kidnapped. It was only then that I told my children what had happened,” she said.

Gustia said her husband had contacted her a few times throughout the period he was held but each phone call was terrifying as the kidnappers would threaten to behead her husband and the others.

Yesterday, Gustia and her children finally managed to meet Tayudin again after he was rescued and brought to the Prime Minister’s residence in Jalan Duta.

Tayudin, 45, and another sailor, Abdul Rahim Summas, 63, met with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor at their house in Jalan Duta, to personally thank the Government for its effort in rescuing the fishermen.

In Kota Kinabalu, the wives of the other sailors were also rejoicing.

“Our prayers have been an­­swered!” said Hariyanti Hamsih, 31, after she was told that her husband Mohd Ridzuan Ismail and two other relatives had also been rescued from their Abu Sayyaf abductors.

The housewife said she had heard about their rescue from friends in the media and over the TV news but had not received any official word.

“We hope the police or somebody will also arrange for me to go welcome my husband home in Kuala Lumpur soon, just like the others before this,” she said.

Her 33-year-old husband, cousin Fandy Bakran, 27, and nephew Mohd Zumadil Rahim, 24, were the last three of Malaysians to be rescued on March 26.

Tayudin and Abdul Rahim are Hariyanti’s uncles.

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by The Star Online

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