Kuching: The Magistrate’s Court here today set March 17 for the re-mention of the case involving an e-hailing driver charged with the murder of Nurul Asikin Lan, whose body was found in a drain along Jalan Setia Raja, Tabuan, last December.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura Wan Ali fixed the date following an application by deputy public prosecutor Jean Siow Chung Hwei. The prosecution informed the court that they were awaiting the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis and the victim’s post-mortem reports.

Zakwan Mokhtar, 24, who was unrepresented, is accused of causing the death of Nurul Asikin, 29, before her decomposed remains were discovered in a drain along Jalan Setia Raja at 9.10 pm on December 14 last year.

The charge, framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries the death penalty or imprisonment of not less than 30 years and up to 40 years. If not sentenced to death, the accused may also face a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane.

Previously, media reports quoted Sarawak police commissioner Datuk Mancha Ata as saying that the suspect had confessed to committing the crime out of desperation to fund his trip to Phnom Penh for the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 match between Malaysia and Cambodia.