KUALA LUMPUR – Six students from the National Defence University (UPNM) were sentenced to 18 years in prison by the High Court yesterday (2 Nov).
They were convicted under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code for causing the death of a navy cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain four years ago.
High Court Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah found the six guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
No stay of execution was granted for the six – Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi Azmal, Azamuddin Md Sofi, Muhammad Najib Mohd Razi, Muhammad Afif Najmudin Azahat, Mohamad Shobirin Sabri and Abdoul Hakeem Mohd Ali.
“You’re young, but you’re like hardcore criminals“
As reported by FMT, Azman had described their act of assault as that of “hardcore criminals”.
While the judge did not find the six guilty of intent to murder, he could not image the torture Zulfarhan had to to endure on May 22, 2017.
Earlier, the prosecution had submitted evidence proving that the accused caused grievous bodily harm to the victim.
The post-mortem discovered Zulfarhan’s body with 90 burn marks from a hot electric iron.
“Though you’re young, your acts are akin to those of hardcore criminals.
High Court Judge Datuk Azman
Despite the fact that the 18 defendants were young when they were involved in the case, they committed severe offences, said the judge.
In addition, a three-year jail sentence was imposed on 12 other UPNM students for assaulting the deceased to force him to confess to stealing a laptop.
“However, the court grants a stay of execution against the 12 accused persons under Section 330,” Azman said.
A lesson to all
Before the ruling was announced, the victim’s mother, Hawa Osman called for justice to be served on her son’s killers.
“I want punishment equal to the loss of a meaningful person in my life, and this punishment should be a fair lesson to society at large so that they are more careful in their actions.”
Hawa told the court that the family went through a lot of grief after Zulfarhan’s death.
“I hope other families will not suffer like we did.”
Zulfarhan’s father, Zulkarnain Idros, told reporters that the family was grateful for the court’s decision.
Cover image via Shawaliah Hadir and Kosmo!
Editor: Grace Choong
