Death sentence of ex-lorry driver convicted of rape-cum-murder of elderly woman commuted to 40 years imprisonment

A three-judge panel consisting of Justices Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, dismissed K. Sathiaraj's appeal to overturn his murder conviction.

However, they allowed his appeal to commute the death sentence to a 40-year prison term, to be served from the date of arrest, which was Oct 9, 2019.

Justice Harmindar, who chaired the panel, also ordered Sathiaraj, 32, to be given 12 strokes of the cane.

In Aug 2022, Sathiaraj was found guilty and sentenced to death by the High Court for killing the woman in a flat in Kampung Tasik Tambahan, Ampang, Selangor between 11.40 am and 1 pm on Sept 19, 2019.

Prior to that, Sathiaraj had pleaded guilty to raping and sodomising the woman and was sentenced to 13 years in jail and five lashes of the cane by the Ampang Sessions Court. He did not appeal against this court's decision.

His appeal against his murder conviction and death sentence was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in February last year.

In today's proceeding at the Federal Court, Sathiaraj's lawyer, Anwar Ezzad Zainal, requested the court to commute his client's death sentence to a 31-prison term, in line with the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023.

However, deputy public prosecutor How May Ling argued for the death penalty to be maintained, describing Sathiaraj's acts as horror, cruel, diabolical and most exceptional case.

She detailed how Sathiaraj had pretended to ask for water from the elderly woman, then followed her into her home and locked the doors behind her.

She said Sathiaraj proceeded to stuff the woman's mouth with layers of cloth, wrapped her head tightly with clothing to suffocate her, and then tied her hands behind her back before raping and sodomising her without any mercy and leaving her to die.

-- BERNAMA