PUTRAJAYA - The Federal Court here on Wednesday upheld the 33-year prison sentence imposed on a woman and her younger brother for the murder of her blind husband in 2020.
A three-member bench led by Justice Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, sitting with Justices Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, dismissed the appeals by G.S. Angela Dewi and G.S. Vijaya against their convictions and sentences.
The siblings were initially sentenced to death by the High Court in 2023 for the murder of R. Devarajoo, 59, at a house in Kampung Baru Sungai Chua, Kajang, Selangor, between noon and 1 pm on Oct 1, 2020.
In 2024, the Court of Appeal affirmed their convictions but commuted the death sentence to 33 years’ imprisonment. The appellate court also ordered Vijaya to receive 12 strokes of the cane. Both were ordered to serve their sentences from the dates of their respective arrests on Oct 10, 2020, and Oct 17, 2020.
Angela Dewi, who owns an eatery with Vijaya, subsequently filed appeals to the Federal Court.
According to the facts of the case, the deceased was discovered by his granddaughter lying on a sofa on the veranda of the house, covered in blood. She screamed upon making the discovery.
The deceased’s second wife, whom he had married under customary law, also arrived at the scene and saw him covered in blood. He was later transported to the hospital by ambulance.
On the same day, Angela Dewi, who was the deceased’s first wife, lodged a police report claiming that a robbery had taken place and that a gold necklace belonging to the deceased was missing.
The case was initially classified as a robbery. However, after Devarajoo succumbed to his injuries on Oct 10, 2020, police reclassified it as murder.
Following further investigations, police arrested Angela Dewi, 50, and Vijaya, 47. Vijaya later led police to a storage room where a hammer and the missing gold necklace were recovered.
Lawyers M. Manoharan, B. Sarathabala and P. Subramaniam represented Angela Dewi and Vijaya, while deputy public prosecutor Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi appeared for the prosecution. - BERNAMA