107 injuries found on vocational college student’s body, court told

 

Thirteen students, aged 16 to 19, stand accused of Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat Mohd Narul’s murder at Lahad Datu Vocational College in March this year. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

A forensic pathologist told the Tawau High Court today that 17-year-old Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat Mohd Narul, a student at Lahad Datu Vocational College, suffered 107 injuries.

Dr Dzureena Abdul Multalib, 39, the fifth prosecution witness, said the victim’s body had 102 bruises and five abrasions, Bernama reported.

“There was a total of 107 injuries, while the abrasion wounds refer to injuries that occur due to destruction of the superficial layer of the skin (epidermis) caused by friction against a hard surface,” she said during the trial before Justice Duncan Sikodol.

Thirteen students, aged 16 to 19, stand accused of jointly murdering Nazmie in two rooms at the college between 9pm on March 21 and 7.38am on March 22.

They are charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment for 30 to 40 years, along with up to 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.

Dzureena also said that the post-mortem examination determined the cause of death to be chest and soft tissue injuries resulting from blunt force trauma.

When deputy public prosecutor Nur Nisla Abd Latif asked if the injuries were sufficient to cause death, Dzureena affirmed that they were.

She described injuries across the victim’s body, including the arms, which might indicate defensive wounds.

Explaining blunt force trauma, she said it involved injuries caused by impact, such as falling onto a hard surface, being punched or kicked, or being struck with blunt objects.

Nisla: How about striking or swinging a cable cord towards the deceased, does it fall under blunt force trauma?

Dzureena: Yes.

Nisla then asked whether a series of violent actions, including striking with cable cords, repeated punching, kicking, stomping, and being pushed into metal lockers, could have caused the victim’s death.

“All of the above, especially the chest and soft tissue injuries in combination, led to the victim’s death,” said Dzureena.

The trial took an emotional turn as the victim’s mother, Siti Hamidah Jumari, 45, testified as the fourth prosecution witness.

She was asked to identify photographs of her late son but broke down in tears and could only confirm one image.

Besides Nisla, the prosecution team also comprised Ng Juhn Tao and Nur Batrisyia Mohd Khusri.

Eight of the 13 accused were represented by lawyers Ram Singh, Kamaruddin Mohmad Chinki and Chen Wen Jye, while the remaining five were defended by Mohamad Zairi Zainal Abidin, Abdul Ghani Zelika, Vivian Thien, Jhassany P Kang and Kusni Ambotuwo. - FMT