PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court on Wednesday (March 4) upheld a 40-year jail term and 12 strokes of the cane against an unemployed man for murdering his mother, whose body was found in a septic tank behind their home eight years ago.
A three-member Federal Court panel chaired by Chief Justice Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh dismissed Mohammad Firdaus Ismail's final appeal to set aside the sentence affirmed by the Court of Appeal on Aug 26, 2024.
Delivering the unanimous ruling, Justice Wan Ahmad Farid said the appellant's crime was cruel and inhumane, as he had killed the very woman who gave him life.
"It was a heinous and despicable act. The manner of the offence and disposal of the victim's body in a septic tank compounded the gravity of the case.
"Accordingly, the court dismisses the appeal and upholds the sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal," he said, sitting with Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hashim Hamzah and Federal Court Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
On April 15, 2022, the Butterworth High Court sentenced Mohammad Firdaus to death after convicting him of murdering his mother.
The accused, the youngest of five siblings, killed Faridah Mat Hashim, 63, at their home in Balik Pulau between 6.30am and 8pm on Sept 9, 2018.
Faridah, who had been reported missing, was found dead in a septic tank behind the house.
The Court of Appeal, however, commuted the death sentence to 40 years' imprisonment from the date of his arrest on Sept 25, 2018, along with 12 strokes of the cane.
Earlier, lawyer Datuk Seri K Kumaraendran sought a reduction of the sentence on the basis that his client had shown remorse.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Zain Ibrahim countered that the jail term and caning imposed by the Court of Appeal were not excessive, urging the court to uphold the sentence in the public interest.
"There is no denying the appellant's siblings have forgiven him. But they are also part of society, and the public must receive a strong, clear message about their actions.
"The appellant did not merely kill his own mother; he disposed of her body in a septic tank, where it lay for up to seven days and was discovered decomposed and infested with maggots," he said, noting the case went to full trial with no expression of remorse from the accused.
He further submitted that the appellant had inflicted two separate attacks on the victim.
"The victim also suffered incised and stab wounds to the body, head, face, and limbs. Her body had severely decomposed after being left in the septic tank for six to seven days.
"It would therefore be inappropriate to further reduce the sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal," he submitted. — Bernama
