Eight students found guilty of murdering schoolmate

The Muhammad Farid murder trial
BY SIMON KHOO

SEREMBAN: Eight Form Five students here have been found guilty of murdering their schoolmate, but they escaped the mandatory death sentence because of their age.

High Court Judge Justice Azhar Ma’ah said they were lucky to escape the gallows because they were juveniles.

The eight students of Sekolah Menengah Agama Dato’ Klana Petra Ma’amor had been charged with killing Muhammad Farid Ibrahim, 16, at the Osman dormitory on the second floor of the boys’ hostel block of the school in Ampangan, here, between 10.30am and 4.15pm on March 28.

Justice Azhar Ma’ah said that based on all the evidence adduced before the court, the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt over the prosecution’s case.

“As such, the court finds all the eight accused guilty as charged,” he said at a packed courtroom yesterday.

The judge took almost two hours to read out his 82-page judgment.

On hearing the verdict, the eight accused, the victim’s parents and several family members of the accused broke down.

DPP Roslan Abu Bakar stood up to inform the court that the charge, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carried only the death sentence.

“As such, a behavioural report is not required as there is no other sentencing for the court to consider,” he said.

Justice Azhar concurred with DPP Roslan and ordered the eight to be held at the pleasure of the Negri Sembilan Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

He said that this was provided for under Section 97(2)(b) of the Child Act, 2001, and was subject to be reviewed every two years.

In mitigation, counsel Haresh Mahadevan, who spoke for all the eight accused, said they were first-time offenders and had no previous conviction.

DISTRAUGHT: Relatives leading Ibrahim out of the High Court in Seremban Friday.

“They were Form Five students and were not involved

in any crime-related activities previously,” he said, adding that they were remorseful over their action.

Haresh said the defence lawyers would file an appeal pending instructions from their clients.

The others who appeared for the accused were Gurdit Singh, Raja Badrul Hisham Raja Ali, Ramzani Idris, S. Anand, V. Selvarajoo and Sazuan Hamidi Samat.

Before passing sentence, Justice Azhar reminded the accused that they were fortunate to be charged under civil criminal law which considered them juveniles even though in Islam they had attained the age of puberty and knew how to differentiate between good and evil.

Citing a Malay proverb, he said: “Ikut nafsu, lesu; ikut rasa, binasa; ikut hati, mati (follow your lust and you will be weakened; follow your desire and you will be ruined; follow your emotion and you will face death).“I hope all of you will think back and regret your action. Take this episode as a lesson to be wiser in the future.”

Justice Azhar said that after assessing arguments put forward by the defence, the court found that its evidence was “stereotype” in nature.

He said all the eight students told the court that they went to the Osman dormitory and saw the victim lying unconscious either on the floor or bed but showed no reaction.

“For example, the third accused said he did not ask anyone what had happened to the victim.

“His concentration was on his pail which was broken,” he said, adding that such a reaction was against human instinct and nature and quite impossible to believe.

Justice Azhar said that judging from the behaviour of all the accused, the incident was quite a normal thing which did not require any attention.

“As such, the court finds their behaviour unacceptable and one which seriously affects their overall trustworthiness,” he said.

As early as 8pm, the court began to fill up with people, including many family members and relatives of the victim and the accused.

And within an hour, it was packed, with many people standing at the back and sides.

A policeman had to lock the front gate to prevent more people from entering the courtroom.

Muhammad Farid's father, Ibrahim Ma’adah, 49, when met outside the court, was too distraught to talk.

He was hugged by family members and relatives and led away.

At 4.45pm, the accused were led out of the court into a Black Maria and sent to Kajang Prison.

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