Bangladeshi who decapitated foreman escapes gallows, sentence commuted to 33 years jail

PUTRAJAYA: A Bangladeshi man escaped the gallows after the Federal Court here today commuted his death sentence to 33 years in jail for murdering his fellow countryman.

Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, who presided with Federal Court judges Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, also ordered Shohel to be given 12 strokes of the cane.

Justice Abang Iskandar said the court allowed Shohel's appeal to set aside the death sentence imposed on him by the High Court and substituted it with 33 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane.

He ordered Shohel to serve the sentence from the date of arrest on Feb 11, 2017.

Justice Abang Iskandar, however, affirmed Shohel's murder conviction.

Shohel, 38, who was a construction worker, was found guilty by the High Court on Oct 23, 2019, for murdering Polaus Kumar, 29, a foreman, in an apartment which was under construction in Alam Jaya, Jeram, Kuala Selangor between 3.30 pm and 4.40 pm on Feb 9, 2017.

He lost his appeal at the Court of Appeal which was dismissed on Nov 2, last year.

According to the facts of the case, the headless body was found hanging on the 10th floor of an apartment building and the head was found at the lower floor of the apartment.

After his arrest, Shohel led the police to where he hid an axe and clothing he wore at the time of the incident.

A post-mortem result revealed that Polaus Kumar's head was detached from the body and that his cause of death was decapitation.

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 the prosecution would submit an alternative sentence.

Shohel's counsel Muhammad Amirrul Jamaluddin asked the court to commute his client's death sentence to prison 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 pre-meditated but happened at the spur of the moment due to provocation.

Also representing Shohei was lawyer Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi.

-- BERNAMA