TAWAU: An Indonesian teenager, 13, at the time of the alleged crime, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering his girlfriend.
The charge, read at the High Court here, follows an incident at a palm oil plantation near Kalabakan in January last year.
The accused, whose identity is withheld, made the plea after the charge was read before Judge Datuk Duncan Sikodol.
The charge alleges that the teenager murdering his 13-year-old girlfriend, who was undocumented, at the plantation between 12.30pm and 2.30 pm on Jan 4 of the previous year.
The charge, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries a mandatory death sentence if the teenager is convicted.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Suhaimi Suryana is handling the prosecution, while lawyer Liew Hon Min is representing the accused.
The court has scheduled the trial for Feb 10 to 14 of next year, with the prosecution expected to call seven witnesses.
Last year, the accused appeared before the Tawau Magistrate’s Court on Jan 18 before the case was moved to the High Court on Tuesday.
It is understood that the victim’s body was discovered with hands bound in a ditch at the crime scene, showing head injuries, and there are suspicions of sexual assault.
