JOHOR BARU: The boyfriend of Mira Sharmila Samsusah, better known as Bella, was charged today, at the Batu Pahat Magistrate Court, for murdering her last month.
The accused, Mohammad Haikal Mahfuz, 24, is being charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the death penalty or imprisonment for a period of no less than 40 years– if the accused escapes the death penalty– as well as twelve strokes of the rotan.
Looking at the chronology of events, on Dec 14, Bella was reported to have left her house in Taman Soga, Batu Pahat at 11.50pm to go to the laundrette with her boyfriend.
The victim's elder sister claimed that the last chat message she had with Bella was on Dec 14 at 11.38pm via WhatsApp where Bella had asked about something.
The very next day on Dec 15, Bella's sister made a call via WhatsApp but failed to connect, apart from messages sent through the same app not being delivered with only one tick indicated.
On Dec 16, the first police report was lodged regarding her disappearance that was made by a family member at the Batu Pahat police headquarters.
On Dec 27, five individuals were summoned to give their statements and the very next day, police detained a 24 year-old man to facilitate investigations.
Then on December 30, Bellas's boyfriend was released on police bail and a day after that police stated that they will summon the boyfriend again if needed.
On Jan 19, the discovery and finding of human skeletal remains including the skull in a dilapidated house at Kampung Batu 7, Tongkang Pecah would shed light on Bella's disappearance.
On Jan 20, the discovery of a piece of cloth with the skeletal remains at the dilapidated house on Lorong Imam Jailani, Kampung Batu 7, Tongkang Pecah provided possible clues that the remains are most likely that of Bella.
On Jan 21, police stated that they will prioritise on obtaining the DNA results for the skeletal remains that were found.
Yesterday (Jan 23), the anxious wait for the DNA results came to an end for Bella's family when police confirmed that the skeletal remains uncovered at the dilapidated house in Kampung Batu 7, Tongkang Pecah was that of Bella's.