KUALA LUMPUR: A second-hand shop worker was sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing his friend, a person with disability, during Deepavali three years ago.
High Court judge Datuk Aslam Zainuddin ordered the jail sentence on A. Raventiran, 40, to run from the date of his arrest on Oct 31, 2019.
Raventiran was originally charged with murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for a death sentence upon conviction.
However, the charge was amended from Section 302 of the Penal Code to Section 304 (a) of the same code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) to which Raventiran pleaded guilty.
Section 304(a) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 30 years upon conviction.
The facts of the case stated that the incident between Raventiran and victim R. Vijaya Kumar, 47, occurred following a quarrel between 12.34am and 1.30pm.
The quarrel broke out at a scrap store in Jalan Sungai Besi in Cheras here.
It was understood that the quarrel led to fisticuffs and the victim died due to blunt trauma to the head.
Deputy public prosecutor Annur Atiqah Abd Hadi prosecuted, while Stanley Clement Augustine represented the accused.