Wife and ex-lover escape gallows for murdering hubby

PUTRAJAYA: A woman and her ex-lover, who were earlier condemned to death for the cold-blooded murder of the former’s husband, have now been spared the gallows.

The two with the help of some teenagers killed lorry driver G. Ganesan, then 31, while he was asleep on Feb 16, 2012.

In 2017, the Shah Alam High Court sentenced G. Puganeswaran, 34, and housewife K. Annamah, 47, for the crime.

Ganesan was stabbed to death while he was asleep in a flat in Petaling Jaya at 2.47am on that fateful day.

Yesterday, the Federal Court commuted their death sentence to 36 years in prison.

A three-judge panel led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat overturned the death sentence after granting their applications under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.

Justice Tengku Maimun, sitting with Federal Court judges Rhodzariah Bujang and Nordin Hassan, ordered both of them to serve their prison term from the date of their arrest on Feb 17, 2012, and sentenced Puganeswaran to 12 strokes of the cane, BK reported.

Earlier, Puganeswaran’s lawyer A. Saha Deva requested the death penalty be set aside, contending that his client was not present in the room during the killing and that only Annamah and four teenagers were involved.

“There is no evidence of the existence of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) money allegedly used to pay the underage teenagers,” he said, also noting that Annamah had been abused by her husband.

Lawyer Wan M. Razali Wan A. Kadir, representing Annamah, argued that his client’s role was minimal in merely signalling Puganeswaran with a missed call and opening the door to allow the teenagers into the house.

Deputy public prosecutor Ng Siew Wee requested for the death sentence to be upheld, arguing that the murder was meticulously planned and pointing out that Annamah had betrayed her marriage by engaging in a relationship with Puganeswaran.

“The murder was carried out through a conspiracy, manipulating four teenagers to execute their malicious plan. Puganeswaran promised to pay the teenagers RM5,000 once they completed the murder, using the victim’s EPF savings,” she said.

The sentence was upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court in 2018 and 2020, respectively.