Man escapes gallows for murdering friend’s teen daughter, sentenced to 40 years

JOHOR BAHRU: A former security guard has escaped the death penalty after the Federal Court replaced it with a 40-year prison sentence for the murder of his friend’s teenage daughter 13 years ago.

A three-judge panel led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, sitting on Wednesday (July 17), handed down the prison sentence to D. Kalaiselvan, 59, after allowing his application to review the death sentence.

Judge Tengku Maimun, along with Federal Court Judge Datuk Nordin Hassan and Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, ordered the prison sentence to start from the date of his arrest on July 3, 2011.

Kalaiselvan was found guilty of murdering Nur Rahayu Qomarudin, 16, at the Sungai Masai oil palm plantation near here between 2.30am and 2.50am on June 18, 2011.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi requested the court to uphold the death penalty as the victim, who was still a child at the time, was brutally murdered, having been beaten, stabbed in the neck, and burned. However, lawyer Datin Kharen Jit Kaur, representing Kalaiselvan, requested that the review application be allowed.

Kalaiselvan was sentenced to death by the Johor Bahru High Court on Dec 26, 2012, and his appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal on March 18, 2014. The Federal Court sitting in Putrajaya on Aug 25, 2015, also upheld the death sentence against him.

Meanwhile, the same court set aside the death penalty against Habin Noor Sulaiman, 56, who was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend Nur Ain Ashikin Jemedi, 17, in 2010 by stabbing her 19 times and pouring formic acid on her head. She died in hospital 21 days later.

The court replaced the death penalty with a 38-year prison sentence starting from the date of arrest on Dec 16, 2010.

Tetralina requested the court to maintain the death sentence as the victim was pregnant at the time of the incident, which meant Habin Noor took two lives.

Lawyer Muhammad Abd Kadir said his client had admitted to the act and had surrendered himself to the Ulu Tiram police station after the incident was reported by the victim’s family.

On Jan 3, 2011, Habin Noor was sentenced to 17 years in prison by the Kota Tinggi Sessions Court after pleading guilty to attempted murder by using a knife, in addition to another 17-year prison sentence for splashing formic acid, seriously injuring the victim.

Both offences were committed in Jalan Cemara 2, Kampung Baru Sungai Redan, Kota Tinggi, around 9.15am on Dec 16, 2010.

In 2014, the Court of Appeal amended the charge against Habin Noor to Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, resulting in the death penalty, which was upheld by the Federal Court on March 22, 2016.

Meanwhile, former police corporal Muhammad Faizal Salim, 47, also escaped the death penalty and was sentenced to 40 years in prison with 12 lashes for murdering his pregnant girlfriend Norzielawati Akmar Afandi, 35.

The court ordered Muhammad Faizal to serve his sentence starting from the date of arrest on April 13, 2015. He was charged with murdering the woman at Hutan Bandar Bukit Cantik, Mersing, between 11pm on April 12, 2015, and 12.30am on April 13, 2015.

Tetralina requested that the death penalty be upheld as the autopsy report revealed that the cause of Norzielawati’s death was a severe blow with a blunt object to the head, and the deceased also had 47 other injuries on her body, such as bruises, cuts, and abrasions.

“The baby in her womb was also six months old, so the applicant had killed two lives, and witnesses also heard the victim pleading not to be beaten, but the applicant ignored her,” she said.

Lawyer Iskandar Shah Ibrahim, representing Muhammad Faizal, said his client had intended to take the victim for medical treatment.

On May 21, 2018, the Court of Appeal upheld Muhammad Faizal’s conviction and death sentence, and this decision was also maintained by the Federal Court. – BK