By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, March 5: The Federal Court here today has commuted the death sentence to 35 years imprisonment for a local man convicted of killing his wife while she slept using a knife.
The three-judge panel, comprising Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Sebli, and Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan, also ordered Bangkong Puan, aged 50, to serve the prison term with effect from the date of arrest on Aug 23, 2007.
The court concurred with the court-appointed Lawyer, Wendel Crocker, representing the appellant, that the death penalty should be mitigated to a prison term based on the mitigation and facts of the case.
On Aug 28, 2010, the High Court of Sibu handed down the death sentence after the appellant was found guilty under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
According to the charges, the appellant, hailing from Kapit, was accused of fatally stabbing his wife, Dara Suhaili, 29, with a knife in the back.
He committed the act at their home in Kampung Bahagia Jaya, Teku, around 11.05pm on Aug 9, 2007. — DayakDaily
