KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today ordered 18 students of the Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) to enter their defence on charges of murdering and injuring their varsity mate, cadet officer Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain, two years ago.
Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah reached the decision after concluding that the prosecution had successfully established a prima facie case against the 18 accused.
Five accused, Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi, Muhammad Azamuddin Mad Sofi, Muhammad Najib Mohd Razi, Muhammad Afif Najmudin Azahat and Mohamad Shobirin Sabri are charged with murder while Abdoul Hakeem Mohd Ali is charged with abetting the murder of Zulfarhan Osman.
They allegedly committed the offence at room 04 -10, of the Jebat hostel building in UPNM, between 4.45am and 5.45am on May 22, 2017.
The charges against the accused were made under Section 302 and 109 of the Penal Code, which carry the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
The six, along with 12 others, were also ordered to enter their defence on charges of injuring the victim.
The 12 are Mohd Hafiz Fauzan Ismail, Mohamad Lukhmanul Hakim Mohd Zain, Ahmad Shafwan Berdal, Muhammad Amirul Asraff Mala, Luqman Hakim Shamsuri, Muhammad Sufi Mohd Mustapha, Noriznan Izzairi Noor Azhar, Muhamad Ashraf Abdullah, Muhammad Danial Firdaus Azmir, Muhammad Hasif Ismail, Muhammad Adib Iman Fuad Adi Sany and Mohamad Syazwan Musa.
They are charged with voluntarily causing hurt against the victim for the purpose of forcing the latter to admit to the alleged theft of a laptop, according to Section 330 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Act, which imposes a maximum imprisonment of seven years, and a fine, upon conviction.
The offence was allegedly committed at room 03-05, of the Jebat hostel building in UPNM, between 2.30 am and 5.30 am on May 21, 2017.
The court, however, acquitted and discharged one of the accused, Muhammad Akmal Akif Alias of a charge of injuring the victim.
All the accused are now 23 years old.
The court set Oct 2 and 3, Nov 4 to 7, Nov 18 to 20 and Dec 3 and 4, 2019 for the defence proceedings.
A total of 29 witnesses were called to testify, including two eyewitnesses, throughout the prosecution trial which started on Jan 29, 2018.
The prosecution is being conducted by DPPs Julia Ibrahim and N. Joy Jothi.
The accused were represented by a panel of lawyers comprising Amer Hamzah Arshad, Datuk Ranjit Singh Dhillon, A. G. Kalidas, Datuk Hazizah Kassim, Datuk Seri M. Ramachelvam, Azizul Shariman Mat Yusoff and Zamri Idrus.
Meanwhile, Zulfarhan Osman’s father, Zulkarnain Idros, 55, was seen performing ‘sujud syukur’ (prostration of gratitude) outside the courtroom while his mother, Hawa Osman, 56, said she was always thinking of her son even though it had been two years since his death.
Muhammad Akmal Akif expressed his gratitude and promised to continue his studies.
Zulfarhan Osman died at the Serdang Hospital on June 1, 2017, believed to have been abused after being accused of stealing his friend’s laptop.
The victim was reported to have suffered burns on the chest, arms and legs, and believed to have been tortured with a steam iron. — Bernama
