Madam Rozanah Mohamed Yusoff (in beige) being supported by family members as the toddler's uncle carries Natalie's body, wrapped in a batik cloth, during the funeral at the Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery. -- ST PHOTO: AZIZ HUSSIN
TODDLER Natalie Nikie Alisyia Sallehan, who was allegedly killed earlier this week by her father, was buried yesterday in a simple ceremony.
Her small body, wrapped in a brown batik cloth, was carried by a relative before being lowered into the ground at the Muslim cemetery in Choa Chu Kang.
'Natalie was a jovial child. She could get along with everybody and liked to be carried by all my relatives,' said her mother, Madam Rozanah Mohamed Yusoff, before the ceremony.
The 24-year-old housewife was distraught and looked worn after what she called a gruelling two days.
Her daughter, known to family as Nikie, died on Tuesday night, a month short of her second birthday.
Her father, Madam Rozanah's husband, was charged yesterday with murder in connection with the girl's death.
As the family laid Natalie to rest, Madam Rozanah recalled how she loved her two younger sisters, aged one and two months, and constantly kissed them.
'Whenever they cried, she'd give them their pacifiers,' recalled Madam Rozanah.
Since Natalie's death, relatives have been caring for the girls while Madam Rozanah stayed with her family in Yishun.
When asked how she was coping, Madam Rozanah said she has not slept since her daughter's death: 'I don't know what to do now. I have cried too much. I keep thinking of my daughter and husband.'
She said she still supports her husband, Sallehan Allaudin, 26, whom she has been married to for just over a year. He faces the death penalty if convicted of killing his daughter.
