THE Kelantan Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (Maik) will bear the burial cost of 14 Orang Asli of the Bateq tribe who have died since early May because of an unexplained disease.

Maik deputy president Dr Nik Mohd Azlan Abd Hadi said Muslims will be buried according Islamic rites at the Kuala Koh muslim cemetary in Gua Musang, while non-Muslim will be buried according their traditional practices. 

“All the cost of burial will be borne fully by Maik. This also applies to non-Muslim Orang Asli who will be buried according to their tribe’s customs,” he said today.

He said the bodies of Muslim Orang Asli would be buried soon after the post-mortem and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests were conducted.

“With assistance from the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa), we will check the data to find out whether they (Orang Asli) had converted to Islam, and if there is any, we need to refer to the villagers first for confirmation.

“This is important to ensure whether they have converted to Islam or not,” he said.

Previously, 12 out of the 14 Orang Asli bodies who were believed to have died due to a mysterious illness, were buried according to Bateq tribe customs by placing their bodies on the tree.

It was understood that eight bodies including children were brought out of the jungle while the police are expected to bring out four more bodies today.

A crisis has hit the Batek people in Kampung Kuala Koh, where 14 people died of unexplained illness within a month 

Initial tests lead health authorities to suspect a pneumonia outbreak. – Bernama, June 16, 2019.