Kuala Lumpur: A mother and her female friend were sentenced to 35 years in prison by the High Court here today after they were found guilty of the murder of a 23-month-old boy at a house in Presint 5, Putrajaya, five years ago.
Justice Jamil Hussin meted out the sentence on the mother, Nor Aisyah Yunus, 40, and her housemate, Noor Aisyah Ibrahim, 37, after finding that the defence had failed to raise any reasonable doubt at the close of the defence case.
“After examining the testimony of all the defence witnesses, including the two accused, the court found that the two accused failed to provide an explanation as to how the victim got injured, while they admitted that the victim was in the house at the time of the incident.
“Therefore, the court sentences each accused to 35 years imprisonment, starting from the date of arrest on Nov 4, 2019,” the judge said.
According to the charge sheet, the two women, who are civil servants, were jointly charged with the murder of the toddler at a house at Jalan P5A/5 Phase 5R4, Presint 5, Putrajaya, between the middle of September 2019 and Nov 4, 2019.
The charge was framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34, which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment for a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 40 years. The additional provision for caning does not apply to women convicts.
Deputy public prosecutors Norashikin Ibrahim, Isa Mohamed and Noor Dayana Mohamad appeared for the prosecution, while the two accused were represented by lawyers Najib Zakaria and Azrul Hasyimi Mohammad.
A total of 19 prosecution witnesses and nine defence witnesses, including the two accused, were called to testify at the trial, which began in November 2021.
The media previously reported that the toddler was brought by his parent to Serdang Hospital with 89 bruises, swelling and injuries all over his body.
The results of the post-mortem revealed that the cause of death was injuries to the hip and liver due to blunt force trauma.
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