BUTTERWORTH: A cow herder was charged at the magistrate's court here today with the murder of a clerk late last month.
No plea was recorded from M. Kirubakaran, 29, when the charge was read to him by the court interpreter before Magistrate Aziana Azib.
"Ya (Yes), faham (understood)," Kirubakaran said as he nodded to indicate he understood the charge against him.
He was calm throughout the whole proceeding which lasted about 15 minutes.
Kirubakaran was charged with causing the death Lee Ling Tee, 40, at her house at Jalan Permatang Ara, Taman Seruling Emas in Sungai Jawi, Nibong Tebal between 3am and 4am on Aug 28.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
Kirubakaran also pleaded guilty to two separate charges of administering amphetamine and methamphetamine into his system at the Seberang Prai Selatan district police headquarters' Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department about 1am on Aug 29.
Both charges were framed under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952.
Earlier, Kirubakaran was brought to court in a purple t-shirt paired with fluorescent green shorts with his hands handcuffed about 9am.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurameera Shahrul Azrin prosecuted while the accused was unrepresented.
Nurameera urged the court to fix a date for mention pending pathology and post-mortem reports.
"No bail is offered (for the drug charges) as the accused is facing a murder charge in court," she said.
Aziana then fixed Nov 8 for mention for the murder and drug charges.
The proceeding was held at the Magistrate's Court (Municipal) in Butterworth as the Jawi Court is currently under renovation.
It was earlier reported that a clerk was believed to have been suffocated to death after she was raped and sodomised by a man who broke into her home at Taman Seruling Emas in Nibong Tebal on Aug 28.
Initial investigations revealed a friend of the 40-year-old victim had gone to her house as they had made an appointment to meet about 3pm on that fateful Saturday.
When the 41-year-old woman arrived in front of the house, she saw a man leaving the victim's house on a motorcycle. She then alerted the victim's older sister about the man.
A police team, which arrived shortly after a report was lodged, found the house in a mess. It was then that they discovered the victim under a bed in the room on the ground floor.
During questioning, the victim's 55-year-old neighbour told police he spotted a man leaving her house the Saturday afternoon of the incident. The neighbour managed to take down the motorcycle's registration plate number, which he gave to police.
Based on information given, police later arrested a 29-year-old man, who had five previous records for criminal and drug offences.
Based on the suspect's testimony, he had stopped in the back lane of the victim's house about 3am that Saturday (Aug 28) and climbed over the back wall into the victim's house. He subsequently opened the windows before gaining entry into the house.
The suspect then went into the bedroom on the ground floor and found the victim sleeping. He then raped and sodomised the victim.
During the attack, the victim had put up a fight and shouted for help. The suspect then stuffed the victim's underwear into her mouth and covered her mouth with his hand. After a while, the victim stopped moving, and is believed to have died.
The suspect then ransacked the house and took the victim's cell phone, cash and a locket, which he later threw into a river, near the location he was hiding until his arrest.