SINGAPORE: The daughter of Zulfikar Shariff, who made the news last month when his social media accounts were blocked in Singapore, passed away in a road accident in Melbourne on Tuesday (Dec 9).
Sayyida Nafeesa Zulfikar was only 21 when she died. She worked as an administration and enrolment officer at MY College, an independent school in Melbourne for Australian Muslims.
The accident took place as Ms Nafeesa was driving to work at around 7:45 a.m., local news reported. After a car and a lorry collided ahead of her, the lorry hit a pole, which fell on Ms Nafeesa’s car. According to a report in News.com.au, her car had been going in the opposite direction as the other vehicle and the lorry.
And while paramedics endeavoured to revive her, she was pronounced dead shortly after the accident.
She is survived by her father, a former Singapore citizen, her mother, Shireen Abdul Samad, and five brothers. Her father and brother came to the scene of the accident after learning about it.
On his Facebook page, Zulfikar notified the public about the funeral prayers for Ms Nafeesa, which took place on Thursday (Dec 11), and which were followed by her burial services.
Her father, who told News.com that Ms Nafeesa “held the family together,” penned a touching tribute to his daughter over social media.
“Be happy for Nafeesa.
Alhamdulillah. Our beloved Nafeesa, the gem of our lives, has returned to Allah’s mercy.
She is now going through the next phase of her life.
Nafeesa completed her test in this life at 21 years old. She completed her test with a clean heart. She completed her test performing all her prayers.
She completed her test while trying to help the community…
As her parents, her family we grieve because we miss her.
Terribly.
Her voice, her laughter, her love.
We adore her.
And she knows she is adored.
The pain is ours. It cuts like a dull, jagged knife.
Insha Allah the happiness, the joy as she is welcomed in Jannah is hers.”
Zulfikar, 54, renounced his Singapore citizenship in 2020 and is an Australian citizen, having moved there with his family in 2002. He was detained under the Internal Security Act in 2016.
On Nov 26, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Singapore Police Force said that they had issued restrictions against his TikTok and Facebook accounts due to his posts stirring up discontent between different ethnic groups in the city-state, deeming this to cause harm to Singapore’s racial and religious harmony. /TISG
Read also: Who is Zulfikar Shariff and why are his TikTok and FB accounts now blocked?
