By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Oct 13: A man who spent years facing a murder charge over the death of his girlfriend’s two-year-old son walked free from the High Court today.
Judicial Commissioner Zaleha Mohd Yusuf Pan ordered the discharge and acquittal of the 28-year-old accused, concluding that the prosecution failed to make out a prima facie case by the time it closed its evidence.
She said the testimony from both sides fell short of proving the offence, and that nothing solid showed the accused was present when the crime took place.
The man had been accused of killing the child at an unnumbered house in Kampung Buda, Spaoh, in Betong between 8am and 10am on June 6, 2021.
The charge fell under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries a mandatory death sentence. Where death is not imposed, a convicted person faces between 30 and 40 years in prison and at least 12 strokes of the rod.
Fourteen prosecution witnesses took the stand after the trial opened on September 29, 2025. Deputy Public Prosecutor Aida Nurdiana Che Kamarulzaman conducted the case.
Datuk Candida Entri, Abang Mohd Tosen, and Awangku Ariff Radhi Awang Ariffin defended the accused, as assigned by the court.
The boy was the son of the accused’s partner and lived with the couple. A medical report found he died of internal abdominal injuries caused by a forceful blow from a blunt object.
News of the death first emerged on June 6, 2021, when reports said a child had died bearing injuries and bruises on multiple parts of his body, with suspicions of abuse by someone in the family.
Betong district police chief Deputy Superintendent Zamry Alli said police were alerted by a medical officer at Betong Hospital to a suspected death involving abuse.
According to him, the officer noted injuries and bruising that might have caused the child’s death. The family had taken the boy to the hospital around 3pm that day. — DayakDaily
