Appeals court sentences six ex-UPNM students to death over cadet murder
Published on: Tuesday, July 23, 2024
By:
FMT, Ho Kit Yen
Zulkarnain Idros and his wife Hawa Osman speaking to the media at the Palace of Justice today after the Court of Appeal convicted six men of murdering their son, Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain, in 2017.
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has imposed the death sentence on six former National Defence University (UPNM) students convicted of murdering navy cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain seven years ago.
Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail, who chaired the panel, said the death sentence was warranted given the cruelty of Akmal Zuhairi Azmal, Azamuddin Sofi, Najib Razi, Afif Najmudin Azahat, Shobirin Sabri and Hakeem Ali’s actions.
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Also on the bench were Justices Zaini Mazlan and Azmi Ariffin.
The court had earlier convicted the six men of murdering Zulfarhan at UPNM’s Jebat hostel on May 22, 2017.
The High Court in 2021 tried the six for murder but reduced their charge to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and sentenced them to 18 years in prison.
In May, the prosecution sought the death penalty for the six accused as a deterrent to the community and to emphasise the rejection of bullying and extreme abuse.
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At the time, deputy public prosecutor K Mangai argued that the torture of Zulfarhan, which resulted in 90 scald burns covering 80% of his body, constituted an extreme act.
She said an autopsy revealed that the scalding burns were the cause of death.
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Hadhariah said the High Court had erred in reducing the murder charge to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
She said pathologist Dr Salmah Arshad testified that Zulfarhan had suffered 90 injuries all over his body.
“The doctor said, based on (findings in) medical journals, 30-50% burns (suffered by a victim) are likely to be fatal.
"Dr Salmah also said that the chances of survival for Zulfarhan – who suffered more than 80% burns to his body – were slim," Hadhariah said.
Hadhariah said Zulfarhan was assaulted by his peers non-stop for two days, from May 21 to 22, 2017, for allegedly stealing Akmal’s laptop.
However, she noted that the laptop was never found, despite attempts by fellow classmate Syafiq Abdullah to look for the laptop in Zulfarhan’s locker.
"Akmal was very angry over the missing laptop and insisted that Zulfarhan stole it, but the deceased denied it," Hadhariah said, adding that Zulfarhan never admitted to stealing the laptop despite being repeatedly assaulted by his peers.
After two days, Akmal and the four others – excluding Hakeem – told a classmate that they wanted to "treat" Zulfarhan for his injuries by taking him to a clinic.
“The clinic’s doctor (Dr Afzar Hussin) wrote referral letters so that Zulfarhan could be admitted to Serdang Hospital. But they (the accused persons) never sent him to the hospital. They told Dr Afzar that Zulfarhan’s injuries were due to an ‘explosion’ during a training session," Hadhariah said.
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