KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — The Malaysian convicted of child pornography in the UK must be kept under constant surveillance by the police upon his return, said the father of Nurin Jazlin, the eight-year-old whose sexual assault and murder shocked the nation.

According to Jazimin Abdul Jalil, police should also set up a sex offenders’ registry to facilitate the tracking of those such as Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin, the Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) scholar now serving a jail sentence in the UK.

“When he comes back, the authorities should also make sure he undergoes rehabilitation to make sure that he does not repeat the offence that landed him in hot water in the UK,” Jazimin told Malay Mail Online.

“A sex offenders’ list is necessary to make it easier for them (the police) to identify such people and keep tabs on them if there are any future cases related to them,” he said.

Nurin Jazlin’s 2007 case remains one of the most tragic mysteries in the country, with the perpetrators of the unsolved crime still at large. Her body was found stuffed in a gym bag a month after her abduction, with a cucumber and a brinjal stuffed inside her genitals.

But despite the nature of Nur Fitri’s crime and the history of his own daughter’s case, Jazimin felt the 23-year-old should not be cast out from society.

As with MARA chairman Tan Sri Annur Musa, who said the youth needed rehabilitation, Nurin’s father also believed Nur Fitri should be allowed to repent.

“If he has served his sentence fully, he should be given a second chance. He is still young and should not be deprived of a job and education for a mistake he did earlier in his life,” he added.

On April 30, Nur Fitri was convicted by the Southwark Crown Court in London of possessing thousands of videos and photographs depicting child pornography and sentenced to 18 months’ jail.

London’s Metropolitan Police Service said last week that the Malaysian maths student was found to be in possession of over 30,000 videos and photographs of child pornography and with a life-sized mannequin of a young boy in his room.

He reportedly possessed 601 “Category A” videos and images, which depicted abuse involving penetrative sexual acts with children.

The shock in Malaysia over Nur Fitri’s conviction has since been surpassed by the anger over MARA’s purported decision to take him back once his sentence is completed.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir were among those who lambasted the “second chance” given to Nur Fitri, while other Malaysians have also taken to starting an online petition to press MARA not to go through with any such offer.