Three men were sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court here after they were found guilty of kidnapping a woman to obtain RM400,000 in ransom, three years ago.

The accused, Mohd Zairolnizan Md Nor, 40, was also sentenced to seven strokes of the cane, while Khairul Anuar Musa, 42, and Abdul Hadi Abu Bakar, 25, would receive five strokes each.

Judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed meted out the sentence after finding that the prosecution had managed to establish a prima facie case against the three.

He also ordered all the accused to serve their sentence from the date of their arrest, which is April 1, 2017 for Mohd Zairolnizan, March 14, 2017 for Mohd Khairul Anuar and Dec 8, 2018 for Abd Hadi.

The three were charged under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961, which provides for a death sentence or life imprisonment and whipping.

According to the facts of the case, the woman, who was then aged 28, was abducted by the three men on Jan 23, 2017 at about 7.40 am, while riding her motorcycle to return home after having breakfast at a stall in Kampung Padang Pisang, here.

The victim was then put in a Perodua Myvi car, taken to several places and was only released at about 1.30 am on Jan 24, 2017 after a RM400,000 ransom was paid by her employer.

In his judgment, Abdul Wahad said when called to make their defence, all of the accused's statements were merely denial and they also failed to inform their exact location when the kidnapping occurred.

Earlier, their respective counsel pleaded for life imprisonment instead of a death sentence, claiming that their clients were remorseful and learnt their lessons during the remand period.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Fadhli Mahmud appeared for the prosecution, while Mohd Zairolnizan was represented by lawyers Ahmad Nizam Mohamad and Alias Ibrahim, Mohd Khairul Anuar by Shaharuddin Mohamed, and Abdul Hadi by Firdaus Mohamad Yusuf.

-- BERNAMA