A 22-year-old student has been sentenced to death by hanging after pleading guilty to murdering and burning his girlfriend in Sabak Bernam, Selangor, two years ago.
Klang High Court Judge Norazlin Othman handed down the ruling yesterday (16 October) after the accused, Muhammad Fakrul Aiman Sajali, upheld his guilty plea.
His girlfriend was 18 weeks into her pregnancy
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Ashiqin Zulkifli presented 112 exhibits to the court, including ultrasound images, a knife, a wooden stick, and the clothing of the 21-year-old victim, as reported by BERNAMA.
She described the offence as extremely serious, involving the loss of human life, especially since the victim was pregnant.
“The way the victim died was brutally cruel and should never have happened. The accused planned this crime, and it carries serious public interest implications. It should serve as a warning to everyone,” she said.
Muhammad Fakrul was charged with killing Nur Anisah Abdul Wahab on Jalan Sungai Limau between 8:30 PM on 221 May and 8 AM on 23 May 2023, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries either the death penalty or 30 to 40 years’ imprisonment, and if not sentenced to death, at least 12 strokes of the cane.
Judge Norazlin described the act as “cruel” and said that due to the premeditated nature of the crime, a harsh sentence was necessary compared with spontaneous acts of violence.
The victim suffered burns over almost her entire body
In her judgment, Norazlin said the court was satisfied that the guilty plea was made voluntarily, and that the accused admitted to the facts of the case while acknowledging that the prosecution’s evidence was accurate.
“This case involves more than just the loss of one life, the deceased, but also the child she was carrying for 18 weeks. The post-mortem by the Forensic Department of Sungai Buloh Hospital revealed burn injuries covering almost her entire body,” she explained.
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She also highlighted that at the time of the incident, the victim’s intestines and fetus were exposed, and she had suffered stab and slash wounds on her abdomen and palms.
“The accused allegedly hit the victim’s head with a wooden object, causing her to fall, dragged her to the side of a drain, and then took a knife from his car to stab her abdomen and slash her neck,” Norazlin added.
“He was wrongly made a scapegoat”
In his mitigation, lawyer Muhammad Nor Tamrin said his client had been unfairly made a scapegoat after a DNA report from the Chemistry Department of Malaysia confirmed that the 18-week-old fetus was not Muhammad Fakrul’s.
He added that Muhammad Fakrul had been under pressure from a man claiming to be the victim’s cousin’s husband, who had threatened him to take responsibility for the pregnancy.
“The accused is a university student with no criminal or disciplinary record and has consistently performed well academically, with a final GPA of 3.80,” he said.
The lawyer, therefore, urged the court to consider the minimum sentence, taking into account the guilty plea entered by his client before the trial began.
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Also read: Murder of 17yo Sabah Student: All 13 Accused Escape Death Penalty, 1 Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
