By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Oct 16: A 32-year-old mechanic was charged in the Magistrate’s Court here today with the murder of his girlfriend’s three-year-old daughter in Kampung Rampangi, who allegedly died following abuse in Kampung Rampangi earlier this month.
No plea was recorded from the accused after the charge was read before Magistrate Nursyaheeqa Nazwa Radzali.
The accused was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty or imprisonment for up to 40 years if the death sentence is not imposed.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Chuah Kai Sheng informed the court that the post-mortem report on the victim was still pending. The court then fixed Nov 21 for further mention of the case.
According to police, the victim was pronounced dead at about 9.45pm on Oct 7, after a report was lodged by a 52-year-old man, a friend of the victim’s father, the following day.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the child had sustained fatal injuries consistent with abuse.
The accused, believed to be the boyfriend of the victim’s mother, was arrested at Kampung Krian, Jalan Padawan, at around 11am on Oct 9.
Kuching District Police chief ACP Alexson Naga Chabu confirmed that the suspect has six prior drug-related offences and tested positive for methamphetamine during his arrest.
For those offences, the accused was sentenced to six months in prison and fined RM2,500 after pleading guilty to two separate counts of drug abuse involving methamphetamine.
He had admitted to both charges before two different Magistrates’ Courts for offences committed in 2011 and 2019.
For the first charge, he admitted to consuming amphetamine and methamphetamine at the Kuching District Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department on Sept 23, 2011.
Magistrate Ling Hui Chuan fined him RM2,500, in default eight months’ imprisonment, and ordered him to undergo three years of supervision under the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) upon completing his sentence.
For the second charge, he was found to have consumed the same drugs at the Sarawak Police Contingent Headquarters Narcotics Department on April 4, 2019.
Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment, effective immediately, and placed him under two years of AADK supervision upon release.
Both charges were framed under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries a fine of up to RM5,000, or imprisonment of up to two years, or both.
Inspector Nur Shafiqa Nyaie Ilin conducted the prosecution, while the accused was unrepresented. — DayakDaily
