MELAKA, Aug 18 — Toh Puan Zurina Kassim, the wife of former Yang Dipertua Negeri of Melaka, Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob, was laid to rest at the Melaka Heroes’ Mausoleum near the Al-Azim Mosque here at 10pm.

Her remains were bathed and shrouded at the Sayyidina Ali Bukit Katil Mosque here at about 6pm before being placed at the Dewan Seri Negeri Hall in Ayer Keroh for an hour to allow for last respects to be paid.

The funeral prayer at the Al-Azim Mosque at about 9pm was joined by over 1,000 congregants led by the Mufti of Melaka, Datuk Abdul Halim Tawil.

Zurina was then buried near the tombs of the state’s fifth yang dipertua negeri Tun Syed Ahmad Syed Mahmud Shahabudin and eighth chief minister Datuk Seri Abu Zahar Ithnin.

Notable figures present at the funeral ceremony were current Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam and his wife Toh Puan Asmah Abd Rahman, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali, Deputy Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah and State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Ibrahim Durum.

Zurina died at her residence in Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, at 10.10am today. She was 78.

Born in Duyong near here on July 13, 1944, she married Mohd Khalil on February 28, 1965, and the couple was blessed with three children.

Mohd Khalil was appointed as the sixth yang dipertua negeri of Melaka from June 2004 to June 2020.

The late Zurina was always concerned about the welfare of the people during her lifetime. The Toh Puan Zurina Foundation was established in Pantai Peringgit in 2015 to provide free haemodialysis treatment to the less fortunate. — Bernama