In a YouTube clip broadcast from Kuala Lumpur following his release on Thursday, 12-year-old Nayati Moodliar appeared bright-eyed and bubbly as he announced: “Hi everybody. I appreciate all you guys have done. You guys found me.” ( At the bottom of this artical please find the video)
He then checked out his arms and legs, before assuring the world he was all in one piece.
Nayati’s father, Shamelin, and his mother Janice Smith, spoke during the media conference of their relief to have their son home.
The conference followed an outpouring of relief around the world since news that Nayati was safely back home.
Shamelin, a Bishops College old boy, was overcome with emotion as he tried to describe the moment he found out his son had been kidnapped.
“He said to me: Dad, I left…”
Shamelin then stopped speaking, and dropped his head to hide his face, distorted as he held back tears.
After regaining his composure, he said his son had told him: “On Friday I walked to school. And today I’m walking back home. They can’t beat me.”
He said he believed it was important for Nayati’s healing that he had already returned to school.
The boy’s mother, a Norman Henshilwood High School old girl, said during the press conference that Nayati surprised them when he asked to go back to school immediately, then addressed his classmates and teachers, before walking his usual route home.
Of the moment that she and her husband saw their son for the first time after the kidnapping, she said:
“It was just wonderful.
“No words can describe it… just to see the face of our son again.”
She added: “He was of course so happy to be home, back in his own bedroom and the familiar.”
After news of the child’s safe return broke in SA early on Thursday, media reports said Nayati had been found at a recreational area called Sungai Buloh at about 7.55am Malaysian time. The kidnappers apparently gave him a cellphone to call his parents after his release.
The Malaysian police later confirmed that the family had paid an undisclosed ransom, but the boy’s family have refused to discuss any of the specifics.
Family members were however quoted as saying that Nayati’s parents were happy with the attention the Malaysian government gave the case.
Shamelin also tweeted that the Malaysian police made Nayati’s life a “top priority”. He thanked friends and family, as well as “the people we don’t even know, but could feel your hope and help”. ( Derive from Malaysian Local Newspaper)
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