KUALA LUMPUR: High Court judge Datuk Azman Abdullah ruled that even though the court was satisfied that Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain's killers had committed a heartless crime and acted like hardcore criminals, pressing a steam iron on the victim's body, he could not convict them of murder as it was not a premeditated killing.
He said the offence committed by the Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) cadet officers could only be regarded as manslaughter, under Section 304 of the Penal Code, and not murder, as classified under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
Section 302 carries a mandatory death sentence while 304 carries an imprisonment for a term which may extend to 30 years.
"It was a heartless crime.
"This court is satisfied that the pressing of the steam iron on Zulfarhan's body caused his death but this was not a premeditated murder," he said, adding the incident stemmed from an accusation that Zulfarhan was involved in a laptop theft.
He said Zulfarhan's ordeal began on May 21, 2017, when he was 'interrogated' by a group of students after being accused of stealing the laptop belonging to the first accused Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi Azmal.
The deceased, Azman said, had been beaten up by the students who were his friends and was subjected to abuse which involved a hot steam iron pressed against his body leaving 90 burn marks.
"When I saw the condition of the deceased's body, I could not imagine what he must have gone through. It hurts if a steam iron touches your hand, what more if it touches other sensitive parts of the body," he said.
He added that there was no evidence that Zulfarhan had actually taken the laptop.
In his judgment, Azman also said there were 90 burn marks caused by a hot steam iron all over Zulfarhan's body except for his face and the back of his hands which showed how meticulous the accused were in making sure the marks were unseen.
"If the deceased were to wear a long sleeve shirt, the marks would be hidden. That was how meticulous they were.
"They (accused) also told the court that they loved the deceased. Maybe if they did not love him, they would press the steam iron on his face and probably there would be more than 90 burn marks on the deceased body," he said.
He then sentenced six of them who were initially charged with murder and abetment to the murder to 18 years jail for causing Zulfarhan's death.
Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi Azmal, Muhammad Azamuddin Mad Sofi, Muhammad Najib Mohd Razi, Muhammad Afif Najmudin Azahat and Mohamad Shobirin Sabri initially faced murder charges while Abdoul Hakeem Mohd Ali who was initially charged with abetment in the murder.
The judge sentenced them under a lesser charge after finding that the common intention and abetment of the sixth accused had caused injuries to the deceased but there was no intention of murder.
Azman also sentenced the five except for Mohamad Shobirin along with 12 others, three years jail after finding them guilty of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Zulfarhan to coerce a confession from him that he had stolen a laptop.
He said the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case under Section 330 of the Penal Code.
Azman ordered for the six who were convicted of culpable homicide to serve their jail term from the date of their arrest on June 1, 2017, while the others guilty of causing grievous hurt to the victim were ordered to serve their jail term from today.
Deputy public prosecutor Datin Kalmizah Salleh and N. Joy Jothi conducted the prosecution while the accused were represented by lawyers Amer Hamzah Arshad, Datuk Seri M. Ramachelam, Datuk Ranjit Singh Dhillon, Datuk Hazman Ahmad, Zamri Idrus, Fadly Hashim and Datuk Hazizah Kassim.
The students aged 25 had committed the offence at the Jebat Hostel Block, UPNM, between 2.30am and 5.30am on May 21, 2017, and in the same room between 1.30am and 4.30am on May 22, the same year.
Zulfarhan was found with burn marks and bruises in an apartment in Serdang at about 8pm on June 1, 2017, and was pronounced dead at about 10pm at the Serdang Hospital.