By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Oct 11: The High Court sentenced an odd job worker today to 30 years of imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for murder.
The accused, Moses Manju Vergheese, pleaded guilty before Judge Alwi Abdul Wahab.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the possibility of the death penalty or a prison term ranging from thirty to forty years, accompanied by a mandatory whipping of not less than 12 strokes if the death penalty is not imposed.
On the early morning of February 17, 2020, at approximately 3.30am, the accused was present at a table with two others, Muhammad Farcez Iswandy and an unidentified individual. They were seated in front of an eatery at RPR Batu Kawa.
Around 4am, Abang Hisalihin Bahthika, the deceased, arrived at the scene on a black Modenas Kriss motorcycle.
The accused and the deceased were known to be friends. The deceased did not disembark from the motorcycle; instead, he remained seated on it and engaged in a brief conversation with the accused.
A critical turning point in the events occurred when the accused unexpectedly approached the deceased and hopped onto the back of his motorcycle. Subsequently, the two departed the premises together, heading toward an undisclosed destination.
In less than a minute into their ride, while the deceased was still operating the motorcycle on the road in front of the premises, the accused who was riding behind the deceased took out a concealed knife from the waistband of his pants. The accused proceeded to repeatedly stab the deceased in the back, waist, the side of the chest, and under the armpit.
Following the attack, the deceased fell from the motorcycle, while the accused fled the scene in a dark-coloured Perodua Viva.
The deceased managed to return to the eatery before succumbing to his injuries.
On February 18, 2020, at approximately 10.29pm, the accused was taken into custody by the police. Subsequently, on February 26, 2020, the accused was formally charged with murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code. — DayakDaily
