KUALA LUMPUR: A 21-year-old student who was reported missing after failing to sit for her final examination at an Australian university is believed to be in the custody of an Australian man.

The family of Nor Zarifah Kamaruzzamam, a Pet?ronas-sponsored geology undergraduate at Curtin University in Perth, reported her missing when they lost contact with her.

Worried mum: Noraini holding up a photograph of her daughter Nor Zarifah who was reported missing in Perth. PHOTO: THE STAR

The student from Kajang was discharged from hospital after being treated for an aspirin overdose, apparently triggered by depression.

The student, who has since quit her studies to work as a cleaning service agent, apparently told her mother that she had lost interest in her studies after ?moonlighting? for several months.

Her mother, Noraini Daud, 48, said she was very disappointed and could not accept that her daughter wanted to drop out, with just another month or two to go before she obtained her degree.

?She was among the best students of SM Sains Tuanku Jaafar in Seremban, with 9As in the SPM,? Noraini told a press conference at the Umno caring bureau where she sought assistance on her daughter?s whereabouts.

After Nor Zarifah took up a part-time job, Noraini noticed a change in her daughter?s direction as a student.

?From a part-timer, she was promoted to manager which came with a car. It is possible that she had to quit her studies because the position came with responsibility,? she said.

She also suspected that her daughter was having an affair with her employer, an Australian in his 50s.

Noraini, an assistant librarian with Universiti Putra Malaysia, said Nor Zarifah sent an SMS to her eldest daughter on Sept 13, informing her that she had been discharged from hospital after having swallowed 50 pills.

She is now worried for her daughter?s safety after losing contact with Nor Zarifah, prompting her to lodge a missing person?s report with the police.

?The last time she called home was on Oct 6, asking about her younger brother whom she is close to,? she said.

Bureau chairman Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said he was informed that three of her university mates were also in the same predicament.