PETALING JAYA - The Magistrate’s Court here was today told that the teenage boy charged with the murder of a 16-year-old female schoolmate in a secondary school toilet in Bandar Utama is fit to stand trial.
Lawyer Kitson Foong, representing the 15-year-old boy, said the report prepared by a psychiatrist from Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak, found that his client was capable of understanding the court proceedings.
"The boy is fit to be brought to court for trial and can defend himself," he said.
Foong said the court also ordered that, with effect from today, the accused be placed at a juvenile detention facility, namely the Puncak Alam Correctional Centre in Selangor.
He told this to the media after the proceeding, which was held in camera, before Magistrate Amira Sariaty Zainal.
According to the lawyer, the court also ordered his client, who was previously placed at Hospital Bahagia, attend counselling and therapy sessions once a month.
The case has been fixed for mention again on Feb 6.
The boy was charged on Oct 22 last year with murdering his schoolmate at a secondary school in Bandar Utama between 9.20 am and 9.35 am on Oct 14, 2025.
No plea was recorded because murder cases fall under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides the death penalty or imprisonment for a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 40 years, and shall be subject to whipping not exceeding 12 strokes if not hanged, upon conviction.
However, Section 97(1) of the Child Act 2001 stipulates that the death penalty shall not be imposed or recorded on a child under the age of 18 who is found guilty, and in lieu of the death penalty, as provided for in Section 97(2) of the same act, the court must order the individual to be detained for as long as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or the Raja or the Yang di-Pertua Negeri deems fit.
In today's proceedings, the prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharudin, while lawyer Nur Izni Syazwani Ahmad held a watching brief on behalf of the deceased's mother. - BERNAMA