Kuala lumpur: The Court of Appeal has commuted the death sentence of a former college student who pleaded guilty to murdering his pregnant girlfriend and setting her body on fire to 40 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane. A three-man bench, comprising Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah, Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid, and Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Harun, allowed Muhammad Fakrul Aiman Sajali's appeal against his sentence, substituting the High Court's death penalty with a custodial sentence and caning.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Justice Azman said the court took into account Muhammad Fakrul's age at the time of the offence, as well as the law that gives judges the option to impose either death or a prison term. The sentence is to take effect from May 23, 2023, the date of Muhammad Fakrul's arrest.

On Oct 15 last year, the Klang High Court had sentenced Muhammad Fakrul, now 23, to death by hanging after he pleaded guilty to murdering Nur Anisah Abdul Wahab, 21, at Jalan Sungai Limau between 8.30 pm on May 22 and 8 am on May 23, 2023. Earlier, his lawyer Muhammad Nor Tamrin submitted that the death sentence imposed by the High Court was too harsh, emphasizing that the appellant was a young offender.

He argued that the High Court failed to consider Muhammad Fakrul's age at sentencing, as he was just 20 years and four months old when he committed the crime. The lawyer also noted that the High Court did not properly consider the appellant's mitigation, including his claim that he had been made a scapegoat by the victim, supported by DNA test results showing that the foetus she was carrying was not his.

Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob, however, contended that the death sentence was fair and just, given the nature of the crime. He acknowledged the appellant's youth but argued that it carried little weight compared to the seriousness of the case, noting the victim had been stabbed and slashed multiple times, and her body was set on fire.

Abdul Malik further submitted that in cases involving youthful offenders, the court must balance the accused's age with the seriousness of the offence and the public interest. He argued, 'If a person is not too young to commit a serious offence under the law, then he is not too young to suffer the penalties prescribed by the law.'

The case facts revealed that the appellant stabbed the victim multiple times in the chest and abdomen and slashed her neck. He then cut open her abdomen and attempted to remove the foetus with his hand but failed. Subsequently, he burned her body using petrol.