Babysitter's husband sentenced to death for killing baby Zara

SHAH ALAM: The High Court here today sentenced to death a former barber after he was found guilty of murdering an 11-month-old baby girl three years ago.

Judge Datuk Abdul Halim Aman passed the sentence on Hazmi Majid, 36, after finding that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt at the end of the its case.

Hazmi, who is also the husband of the victim's babysitter, was charged with killing and causing the death of Nur Muazara Ulfa Mohammad Zainal or Zara at a unit in Sri Cempaka Apartment, Jalan 6/3, Section 16, Bandar Baru Bangi, between 10.30 am and 1.30 pm, on Nov 7, 2018.

In his ruling, Abdul Halim said he could not imagine the torture and pain the baby had to endure.

"You have heartless, devoid of feelings and your actions are inhumane," he said.

He added that the victim also suffered various serious injuries such as bleeding beneath the scalp as well as at the upper part and back of the brain, a fractured skull, in addition to bruises on her right arm which according to doctors were due to adult bites.

"More sorrowful the baby was also sexually abused beyond words. You acted with no mercy.

"What wrong had this child done to you that you tortured her and treated her in such a way? You yourself have a child, how would you feel if your child was treated like how you did to the deceased?," Abdul Halim asked Hazmi.

The judge also advised parents to learn from what has happened and to exercise more caution when choosing a babysitter.

"Do some background check on the babysitter first, especially on those who have no family ties with you (parents).

A total of 22 prosecution witnesses and one defence witness, namely the accused, were called to testify in the trial which began on Jan 7, 2020.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Datin Zuraini Abdul Razak while lawyer A. Jeyaseelan represented the accused.

The media had reported that the infant died after two days of being in critical condition at Serdang Hospital, Selangor, believed to be due to physical and sexual abuse by the babysitter's husband.

The victim's mother was earlier informed that the infant was sent to hospital by the couple who claimed that the child had choked on a piece of apple.

However, further medical examination on the infant found that she had tears on her hymen and anus, and the post-mortem report stated the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head and skull.

-- BERNAMA