PUTRAJAYA: A Bangladeshi man was spared the gallows after the Federal Court here commuted his death sentence to 33 years in jail for murdering his countryman.
Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, who presided with Federal Court judges Zabariah Yusof and Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, also ordered Shohel to be given 12 strokes of the cane.
Abang Iskandar said the court allowed Shohel’s appeal to set aside the death sentence imposed on him by the High Court, substituting it with 33 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane.
In affirming Shohel’s murder conviction, he ordered the sentence to be served from the date of arrest on Feb 11, 2017.
Shohel, 38, who was a construction worker, was found guilty by the High Court on Oct 23, 2019, of murdering foreman Polaus Kumar, 29, in an apartment which was under construction in Alam Jaya, Jeram, Kuala Selangor, between 3.30pm and 4.40pm on Feb 9, 2017.
His appeal at the Court of Appeal was previously dismissed on Nov 2, last year.
According to the facts of the case, a headless body was found on the 10th floor of the apartment building and the head was found on the lower floor.
After his arrest, Shohel led the police to where he had hidden an axe and the clothing he wore at the time of the incident.
In today’s proceedings, deputy public prosecutor K Mangai informed the court that Shohel would withdraw his appeal against his conviction and both the defence and prosecution would submit an alternative sentence.
Shohel’s counsel Amirrul Jamaluddin asked the court to commute his client’s death sentence to a jail term, following an amendment to Section 302 of the Penal Code which abolished the mandatory death penalty and gave judges the discretion to impose custodial sentences.
He said the murder was not premeditated but happened in the spur of the moment due to provocation.
Also representing Shohel was lawyer Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi. - FMT
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