KOTA BARU: Twelve out of the 14 bodies and skeletal remains of the Orang Asli Batek tribe from Kuala Koh in Gua Musang which were exhumed will be accorded a Muslim burial.
Orang Asli religious teacher from the Kelantan Religious and Malay Customs Council Mohd Fadzli Mahmok said the bodies and the skeletal remains of Muslim Orang Asli would be buried soon after the post-mortem and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests were conducted on the bodies and skeletal remains.
Fadzli said he had already obtained the permission from the affected families to bury their kin who died due to a yet-to-be known disease last month and early this month, according to Muslim rites.
"Majority of the bodies and the skeletal remains of the Muslim Orang Asli Batek tribe found by those involved in `Ops Batek' operation were not buried in the proper manner.
"Their family members placed their bodies on trees according to old customs. Therefore I persuaded them and they agreed with me.
"Except for two bodies of non-Mulim Orang Asli Batek tribe who will be buried according to their family's wishes, the other 12 including children, will be accorded a Muslim burial," he said.
The teams involved in the operation in Kuala Koh discovered all the Orang Asli tribe bodies and skeletal remains separately between last Wednesday and yesterday.
The cause of their death, however, has yet to be known.
The Health Ministry is expected to announce the result of the post-mortems soon.