Body of Mara student in Sydney to be brought home next week

The body of Amirul Ashraff Md Azhar, a Malaysian student who died after he was believed to have fallen from his apartment in Sydney, is expected to be brought home next week.

Rural Development Minister Rina Mohd Harun said Mara officials in Australia are working to ensure that the body of the final-year student of the University Of Technology Sydney could be taken home immediately.

She said the matter was expected to be finalised after the postmortem and investigation of the Mara-sponsored student's body by Australian authorities was completed.

"Our officers there are working on some things including documentation matters that need some time to resolve.

"But according to officials, the body is expected to be brought back to Malaysia next week," she told reporters after celebrating 70 outstanding students under the Budi Mara programme from the Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) in Putrajaya today.

Also present was Mara director-general Azhar Abdul Manaf.

In the incident, Amirul Ashraff (photo), 22, from Taiping, was said to have slipped from the 23rd floor of his apartment complex, located about 5km from the university.

Rina said Amirul Ashraff’s next of kin had also been informed of the matter, and left it to Mara to manage the return of the eldest of three siblings.

Meanwhile, Rina said she was informed that Amirul Ashraff's appeal to resit the five failed subjects had been approved by Mara.

“Indeed, he had submitted an appeal which had been processed by Mara and we had approved for him to resume his studies, he said.

On Budi Mara, Rina said her ministry had allocated RM1.65 million this year to assist 1,500 MRSM students in B40-category income families.

She said the 70 outstanding students celebrated today were a testament to the success of the programme, after they obtained an average GPA of 3.70 and above in their final semester exams.

- Bernama

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