A 20-year-old man, initially charged for the murder of a 14-year-old girl, escaped the mandatory death sentence when he pleaded guilty today to an alternative charge of causing her death.

Mohd Firdaus Mohd Faridul, 20, made the guilty plea before Judicial Commissioner Dr Choo Kah Sing.
The court set April 9 for sentencing.

Mohd Firdaus had initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of murdering the girl, an offence under Section 302 of the Penal Code that provided the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

He was charged with committing the offence in an idle padi field at Kampung Alor Senibong, Mukim Tajar Alor Setar, between 9.30pm and 11.30pm on Nov 29, 2013.

When presenting the facts of the case, deputy public prosecutor Salim Soib, who prosecuted, said a forensic consultant at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Dr Mohd Shuhaini Mohd Noor, found the girl died from drowning in muddy water.

A post-mortem report on the girl also found bruises and graze marks or her body, believed to have been caused by a blunt object.

In mitigation, lawyer Burhanudeen Abd Wahid, representing Mohd Firdaus, said his client was the oldest of five siblings and often helped his father in the padi fields.

He said Mohd Firdaus had also resumed studies and would be sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination this year.