Thin line between murder and self-defence

PETALING JAYA: There is a fine line between committing a murder and acting in self-defence – and it all comes down to whether or not the person had acted excessively.
Senior criminal lawyer Salim Bashir Bhaskaran explained that if despite knowing that a person could have defused an act of crime without causing harm, but still used excessive force and causing the death of the criminal, it would no longer be considered as self-defence.
"For example, if a person comes to your house to rob, if you had retaliated to prevent harm to yourself and family members, then it's self-defence. But the key word is excessiveness.
"If reasonable force is employed, then it can be self-defence. But if you go beyond that and used excessive force, then it may be considered as murder," he told theSun.
Salim added that murder is committed when a person has intention to kill and should be deliberate, while culpable homicide is causing the death of another but without the intention to kill.
He was referring to a case in Johor where a robber, who had broken into a house and threatened the house owner with a screwdriver, was killed in a scuffle while attempting to escape with the loot.
In the Jan 4 incident, the suspect – who had criminal record of 14 offences – was stabbed by the homeowner with a 22-cm long knife in the back of his neck, severing his jugular artery.
The 32-year-old owner has since been remanded until Jan 10, and is being investigated under the Criminal Procedure Code for murder.
Salim, however, said absolute discretion on whether the act constituted murder lied on the prosecution, and that it depended on the facts of the case.
"That is something they (prosecution) have to prove in court."
In 2003, a similar high profile case involving veteran lawyer Datuk Balwant Singh, who killed a despatch clerk, ended up with the lawyer being acquitted, after the court decided that he had acted in the exercise of the right of self-defence.
Balwant Singh, then 81, was initially charged with murdering R. Gobala Krishnan, 33, on June 7, 2002 after he shot the latter who had acted aggressively, assaulted and attempted to rob him.
"It is my view that the accused did everything possible to pacify the aggression of the deceased. Balwant Singh tried to explain matters to the deceased who was not bothered to listen," said Justice S. Augustine Paul in his judgement.