Arrested farmer tells his side of the story and says he is confused how the victims were able to get to them while tied up (VIDEO)

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 – The farmer remanded in connection with the deaths of two siblings after they ate poisoned snacks in Kampung Padang Ubi, Labu Besar in Kulim on July 7 has questioned the grandmother's claim that the food was stolen from his orchard.

In a video posted on Facebook yesterday, 34-year-old Uzair Shafawi Hasbullah also questioned how the victims could have gotten hold of the snacks, which were tied at a height of 1.37 meters in his 0.8-hectare orchard, according to the Malaysian news portal Harian Metro reported today.

He said he was sleeping at home at the time of the incident as he had been awake all night protecting his eight cows from theft.

“Shortly afterwards, my mother came and asked where I had put the snack chips because the neighbors' children were suspected of having ingested poison through the snacks.

“I was confused because the snacks were tied up high and in a bushy area. How could the two siblings, who were only two and three years old, take them?” he said when met at his home today.

Uzair Shafawi said the poisoned snacks were not tied to the road fence, but to a fence near the bushes in the forest.

He added that he was arrested by police after the incident and remanded in custody for eight days to assist with the investigation, during which time he fully cooperated with the authorities.

However, he expressed his dissatisfaction that the children's grandparents and mother were not investigated for neglect.

“I saw the two siblings running around unsupervised near the oil palm plantation. The area is dangerous because of wild animals like wild boars, monkeys and cobras.

He also expressed his embarrassment at being criticized on social media and becoming the subject of village gossip by people who did not know the true story behind the incident.

“That is why I had to upload a video on social media yesterday explaining the real situation.

“My intention was to clear my name as there were many slanders against me,” he said.

The nine-minute video has so far been shared 53,000 times, liked 68,000 times and commented on 10,000 times.

Uzair Shafawi said since the incident, he has stopped using poisoned snacks to catch the monkeys that frequently attack his fields because he fears a similar incident could happen again.

He now uses metal cages from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) to catch wild monkeys.

Malay Mail had previously reported that two brothers, aged two and three, died in Kampung Padang Ubi on July 7 after eating snacks containing rat poison.

Three-year-old Muhammad Akil Syauqi died on July 10 while undergoing treatment at Penang Hospital, followed by his two-year-old younger brother Muhammad Luth Syauqi, who died two days later.