IPOH: A 68-year-old man has been sentenced by the High Court here to 38 years’ jail for the murder of an elderly woman in Kampung Pasir Panjang Laut in Manjung three years ago.
Justice Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed ordered Mohamad Shaharudin Zakaria to serve the jail term from the date of his arrest.
Mohamad Shaharudin, who was arrested on May 4, 2020, was spared the whip due to him being more than 50 years old.
The accused, who was first charged at the Manjung Magistrate’s Court on May 12, 2020, was said to have murdered Zaharah Khalid, 77, at a house in Kampung Pasir Panjang Laut on May 3 that year.
He was found guilty by Justice Abdul Wahab on Monday, with the punishment meted out yesterday.
Prior to the sentencing, one of the victim’s daughters, Hawa Isa, 48, was called up to give a victim impact statement.
The seventh of 12 siblings said her disabled son missed his grandmother.
“We are all close to our mother, especially my disabled son.
“Until now, he will become uncontrollable whenever he thinks about his grandmother,” Hawa said in between sobs.
“After the incident, a lot had been said by the villagers about my mother, as if she was in the wrong.
“We ask that the accused be given a suitable punishment for what he did to our mother,” she added.
When met outside the courtroom, Hawa said the family accepted the decision made by Justice Abdul Wahab.
When seeking the death sentence, deputy public prosecutor Liyana Zawani Mohd Radzi said the victim had been killed mercilessly.
“The accused was a friend of the victim, who was strangled and thrown into a ditch,” Liyana Zawani said, adding that the victim’s body had numerous injury wounds.
“According to the post-mortem, the victim was alive when she was in the ditch and had died slowly,” she added.
Lawyer M. Saravanan, who represented Mohamad Shaharudin, appealed for a lower sentence due to the accused’s age.
“The accused is 68 and if sentenced the minimum 30 years’ jail, he will be 98 when he comes out.
“The average lifespan for men in Malaysia is about 70, but how many of us can reach 98?
“The accused is appealing to at least be allowed to spend the rest of his days in jail in peace.
“Do not add to his misery by sentencing him to be hanged because there is a big possibility that he may not be alive on the day of his execution,” he said.
