Court of Appeal commutes ex-college student’s death sentence to 40 years’ jail

PUTRAJAYA – The Court of Appeal commutes the death sentence of a former college student who pleaded guilty to murdering his pregnant girlfriend and setting her body on fire to 40 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane.

A three-member bench comprising Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah, Justice Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid and Justice Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Harun allowed Muhammad Fakrul Aiman Sajali’s appeal against his sentence, replacing the High Court’s death penalty with a jail term and caning.

Delivering the decision, Justice Azman said the court had considered Fakrul’s age at the time of the offence, as well as the law allowing judges to impose either the death penalty or a prison sentence.

He ordered the sentence to take effect from May 23, 2023, the date of Fakrul’s arrest.

On Oct 15 last year, the Klang High Court sentenced Fakrul, now 23, to death by hanging after he pleaded guilty to murdering Nur Anisah Abdul Wahab, 21, at Jalan Sungai Limau between 8.30pm on May 22 and 8am on May 23, 2023.

Earlier, lawyer Muhammad Nor Tamrin submitted that the death sentence imposed by the High Court was too harsh, stressing that the appellant was a young offender.

He said the High Court had failed to consider Fakrul’s age during sentencing, as he was only 20 years and four months old when the offence was committed.

He added that the High Court also did not properly consider the appellant’s mitigation, including his claim that he had been made a scapegoat by the victim, which was supported by DNA test results showing that the foetus she was carrying was not his.

Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob, however, argued that the death sentence was fair and justified and should be maintained, citing the brutal nature of the crime committed against the victim.

While acknowledging that the appellant was a young offender, he said the accused’s age carried little weight compared with the seriousness of the offence.

The victim had been stabbed and slashed multiple times before her body was set on fire.

Abdul Malik further submitted that in cases involving young offenders, the court must balance the accused’s age against the severity of the offence and public interest.

“If a person is not too young to commit a serious offence under the law, then he is not too young to suffer the penalties prescribed by the law,” he argued.

According to the case facts, the appellant stabbed the victim multiple times in the chest and abdomen and slashed her neck.

He then cut open her abdomen and attempted to remove the foetus with his hand, but failed, before burning her body using petrol. – BERNAMA