JOHOR BARU: Two brothers have been charged at the Magistrate’s Court here with murdering one of the six victims whose skeletal remains were found in Kangkar Pulai.
The accused, R. Arasan, 32, and R. Utes, 36, nodded in understanding after the charge was read out before Magistrate Nabilah Nizam.
However, no plea was recorded.
According to the charge, the duo caused the death of a 28-year-old man at an unnumbered house in an oil palm plantation area in Kangkar Pulai.
They were accused of committing the act between 12.30am and 4am on Sept 15 last year.
They were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years with whipping, upon conviction.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Aishah Latif, while both accused were represented by lawyers Mohd Hamizi Mohd Yusof and Mohamad Isa Mohamad Basir.
The court fixed April 6 for the next mention and submission of the post-mortem, toxicology and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) reports.
No bail was allowed.
It was earlier reported that the skeletal remains of six murder victims were found in a house that was destroyed by fire in Kangkar Pulai.
The victims included three children and a teenager.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said the remains were found in a house in an oil palm plantation on Jan 9.
“The remains were discovered by a 48-year-old man who had been trying to locate his family members after losing contact with them for three months.
“The man claimed that his wife and children were staying at the house after they separated,” he said during a press conference at the Johor police headquarters on Tuesday (Feb 3).
Comm Ab Rahaman said the man lodged a report at the Iskandar Puteri police headquarters after making the discovery.
He said the house where the victims were staying was abandoned, located about 2km from the main road and had no water or electricity supply.
