Hearing of appeal in Sosilawati murder case adjourned as accused taken ill

PUTRAJAYA: The hearing of the appeal in the cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya's murder case was adjourned to Thursday when one of the accused was taken ill unexpectedly and had to be rushed to the hospital this afternoon.
The court proceedings were supposed to convene in the afternoon after breaking for lunch when R. Kathavarayan, who was sitting on one of the bench in the court, was given a bottle of water to drink and subsequently taken to the police lockup situated at the court building basement.
Lawyer T. Vijay told reporters that his client Kathavarayan, 36, told him that he felt very drowsy, and when he touched his hands they were cold and he seemed to be drifting into sleep.
"He said that he was very depressed that today is his son's birthday and he was not there with his son," Vijay told reporters, adding that an ambulance was called to rush Kathavarayan to hospital.
Vijay said the hearing of the appeal which was set for seven days before a Federal Court five-man panel chaired by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria had to be adjourned until Thursday to get a report from the hospital about Kathavarayan's condition.
Kathavarayan, a farmhand, former lawyer N. Pathmanabhan, 46, and farmhands T. Thilaiyalagan, 24, Matan, 25, are appealing against their conviction and death sentence for the murder of Sosilawati, 47, bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and Sosilawati's driver Kamaruddin Shamsuddin.
They were found guilty by the Shah Alam High Court on May 25, 2013, of committing the offence at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, in Banting on Aug 30, 2010. The Court of Appeal on Dec 4 last year upheld their conviction and death sentences.
Earlier in the proceedings, Deputy public prosecutor Saiful Idris Zainuddin admitted that the bodies of the victims were not found but he said it did not mean that it was the end of the matter.
He said the principle of a case law of Sunny Ang v Public Prosecutor stated that an accused could still be convicted for murder even though the body of the victim cannot be found.
Saiful Edris said although there was no eyewitness who saw the incident, there were circumstantial evidence from family members, friends, independent witness and telecommunications records indicating that Sosilawati and her three aides were at Ladang Gadong in Banting belonging to Pathmanabhan.
He said there was also evidence to support the circumstantial evidence from a deliberate lie by Pathmanabhan to Sosilawati's ex-husband Buhari Mohamed that he had not seen her on that day.
"Pathmanabhan denied seeing Sosilawati on the material date. But other strong circumstantial evidence showed otherwise," he said. — Bernama