By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, April 6: The High Court here has assigned counsel Daniel Ling to represent a couple who have been charged with the murder of 4-year-old Eric Chang.
Chang’s caretaker Wendy Chai Xue Zhen, 37, and her husband Ling Kok Liang, 51, were brought before High Court Judge Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli to be charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code and read together with Section 34 of the same Code.
Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder and read together with Section 34 of the same Code, carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
Justice Azhahari ordered the prosecution to extend the documents in relation of this case to the defence counsel, which include the statements of both accused persons and the chemist report.
He fixed May 9 for further mention to monitor the progress and to see whether the assigned counsel has conflict of interest in relation to the case.
The chemist report of the case is yet to be ready.
Chai and Ling were charged with murdering Chang at their house in Taman Riverview between March 4, 2022 at about 5pm and March 7 at about 9.15am.
Both the accused and Chang’s parents were arrested by the police on March 11, 2022 to assist in the investigation.
However, both Chang’s parents were released after a police investigation while the caretaker and her husband were further detained by the police to further investigate the case. They were under the remand of police until today.
The police investigation revealed surveillance footage from a restaurant in Muara Tebas, showing both suspects carrying a polystyrene box and dumping it off Muara Tebas Wharf, at about 9pm on March 6.
However, the body of the boy has still not been found.
Deputy public prosecutor Kong Siew Chuo prosecuted. — DayakDaily
