PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has commuted the death sentence of a youth, who pleaded guilty to murdering his pregnant girlfriend and setting her body on fire, to 40 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane.
A three-man bench, comprising Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah, Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid and Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Harun, allowed Muhammad Fakrul Aiman Sajali’s appeal against his sentence, substituting the High Court’s death penalty with a custodial sentence and caning.
Delivering the decision, Justice Azman said the court considered Muhammad Fakrul’s age as a college student at the time of the offence, as well as the law that gives judges the option to impose either death or a prison term.
He ordered the sentence to take effect from May 23, 2023, the date of Muhammad Fakrul’s arrest, Bernama reported.
On Oct 15 last year, the Klang High Court had sentenced Muhammad 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, his 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 failed to take Muhammad Fakrul’s age into account at sentencing; he was just 20 years and four months old when he committed the crime.
He added that the High Court 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 just and should be upheld, given the inhumane and brutal cruelty inflicted on the victim.
While acknowledging that the appellant was a young offender, the prosecutor said his age carried little weight compared to the seriousness of the case.
Abdul Malik further submitted that in cases involving youthful offenders, the court must balance the accused’s age against the seriousness of the offence and the 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.
The victim had been stabbed and slashed multiple times, and her body was later set on fire.
