According to national news agency Bernama, Judge Hadhariah said that under the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 – which came into effect on Mar 16, 2023 – the penalties for murder include either the death sentence or imprisonment of not less than 30 years and not more than 40 years, along with no fewer than 12 strokes of the cane.
But the Court of Appeal judges – which include Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Judge Azmi Ariffin – were unanimous in their decision that “only one” sentence was appropriate.
The Court of Appeal judges listed nine factors that contributed to the heavy penalty against the six accused, Malay Mail reported.
These include the fact that Mr Zulfarhan was innocent; that the actions of five of the accused were cruel as the victim had his hands and legs bound as they pressed a hot iron on his body and continued despite his cries of pain.
They also noted that there were 90 burn marks on his body except for the face and back of the hands; that Mr Zulfarhan was hidden from teachers to avoid being caught as well as not bringing him to the hospital to get medical attention despite being advised to do so by a doctor.
REASON FOR OVERTURNED HIGH COURT DECISION
According to the Malay Mail, the High Court had earlier decided to convict the six of the lesser charge of culpable homicide as it felt that the court was bound by previous court decisions which require the identifying of the most serious injury to show intent to cause death to convict a person of murder.
The High Court in its judgment said it is not known which injury caused Mr Zulfarhan’s death and that it had not been proven without beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Zulfarhan’s injuries were ordinarily sufficient to cause death.
But the Court of Appeal on Tuesday said the High Court’s decision was wrong, adding that the prosecution only needed to prove that the six had intent to cause bodily injury.
It added that the prosecution had proven all four elements of the murder charge against five of the six accused. Their actions were intended to cause injury to Mr Zulfarhan with “severe burns”, Malay Mail reported, and this was ordinarily sufficient to cause death.
Meanwhile, the sixth person – Abdoul Hakeem Mohd Ali – who was charged with abetting Mr Zulfarhan’s death, was also found guilty of murder.
While he did not press the hot iron on Zulfarhan’s body, the Court of Appeal found that he was involved in crimes committed by the five other accused as he had instructed them to do so.
