SHAH ALAM: As the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial drags on, her family has been finding it hard to pick up the pieces emotionally and financially.Altantuya's father, retired psychology professor Dr Shaariibuu Setev, 56, told a press conference today Altantuya's younger son Altanshagai, three, is critically ill and needs immediate medical attention but the family cannot afford the high medical expenses.
Speaking through his lawyer and translator Munkhsaruul Mijiddorj in his hotel room, Shaariibuu said the boy has an enlarged head because of accumulation of fluid in the brain and he cannot walk.
"Altanshagai does not know of his mother’s death yet and it is hard for us to see him standing in front of her picture, saying 'mother, please come back'," said Shaariibuu, who is also the director of the Centre for Information and Education in the National University of Mongolia in Ulan Bator.
"We have told him that she is away working in Korea. Altanshagai hopes that every knock at the door is that of his mother returning," he said.
Shaariibuu said since Altantuya’s death, it has been hard making ends meet.
"Altantuya was the main breadwinner in our home and she had worked hard to pay for Altanshagai’s medical expenses," he said.
He said Altantuya had taken the boy for three operations and was scheduled to take him for another round of treatment before she went missing.
After these three treatments, the boy started to speak but still could not walk. However, when Altantuya was alive, she would hold his hand patiently and encourage him to walk, said Shaariibuu.
Her elder son, B. Mongonshagai, 11, has stopped attending public school and is tutored privately as he could no longer bear the jokes and jibes from classmates regarding her mother's murder.
"Mongonshagai is also exposed to the news and internet and reads the reports posted online,’ said Shaariibuu.
Shaariibuu said he now looks after his grandsons and wife S.Altantsetseg, 53, who pines for her dead daughter everyday. Altantuya’s car and apartment have been repossessed.
"There are 320 sunny days in Mongolia, but my family has never felt the brightness since Altantuya’s death," he said.
He said he was disappointed that the Malaysian non-governmental organisations (NGOs), especially women’s groups, had not spoken up or offered any assistance to the family, while the Malaysian media had been portraying Altantuya in a bad light.
Shaariibuu said on the other hand, 40 NGOs in Mongolia had pooled their resources to send Altanshagai to Beijing for treatment.
Mongolian consulate in Malaysia Datuk Syed Abdul Rahman Al Habshi said: "When it came to one prostitute in the UK, the whole country and Umno was talking about helping her and sending assistance for her, but here we have two children who have lost their mother and nobody does anything."
Shaariibuu said while the court decision will not bring his daughter back to life, he has to think of the future of her two children and appealed for donations.
He hoped that the two boys could study in Malaysia as it is a safe place, despite what happened to his daughter.
Shaariibuu is also here to commemorate Altantuya’s 30th birthday which falls on May 6
Asked about allegations that Altantuya was a high-class call-girl, Shaariibuu said: "These are concocted lies. Anyway, aren’t we all prostitutes because we work and get paid for what we do. You don’t even shoot your neighbour's dog if it is constantly barking."
The Sun
April 23, 2008
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