THE Federal Court upheld the death sentence imposed on a former barber for the murder of an 11-month-old baby girl known as “Baby Zara” six years ago.
Postmortem examination of the victim revealed she had suffered severe vaginal injuries that doctors had to stitch to stop the bleeding, apart from sexual, anal and brain injuries.
A panel of three judges, led by Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, unanimously dismissed the final appeal by Hazmi Majid, 42, to set aside his conviction and sentence.
The other judges were Datuk Abu Bakar Jais and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.
The panel found that the conviction and death sentence imposed by the Shah Alam High Court on August 20, 2021 and affirmed by the Court of Appeal on March 1 last year, was safe as the crime was heinous.
At the time of the incident, Baby Zara only weighed 8.26kg and none of her teeth had grown yet.
Hazmi was charged with the murder of Baby Zara between 10.30am and 1.30pm at an apartment unit in Bandar Baru Bangi on November 7, 2018.
Lawyer T. Vijayandran, who represented Hazmi, submitted that his client was unaware of his actions as he was under the influence of drugs.
He requested the death sentence to be set aside and replaced with a 30-year imprisonment.
However, deputy public prosecutor Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi said Hazmi’s appeal must be rejected.
“Claims that the appellant was under the influence of drugs cannot be accepted as his actions in disposing of evidence by washing a towel to get rid of blood showed he was aware of his moves.
“The case is the ‘rarest of the rare’ and warranted the death sentence being upheld.
“The victim was sent to the babysitter’s home at 6.45am on the day of the incident but she was in critical condition, with serious injuries to her head at 1.30pm,” she said.
Based on the prosecution evidence, the appellant never offered to help his wife, who was the child’s babysitter, but on that day, he volunteered to bathe the victim.
Hazmi was found guilty of killing and causing the death of Nur Muazara Ulfa Mohammad Zainal or Zara, in a unit at Pangsapuri Sri Cempaka, Bandar Baru Bangi, between 10.30am and 1.30pm on November 7, 2018.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death penalty, upon conviction.
On November 23, 2018, Hazmi was charged at the Kajang magistrates’ court with the murder of Baby Zara.
The court sentenced him to 20 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the rotan after he pleaded guilty to two counts of inserting his finger into the baby’s private parts.
For each count, Hazmi was sentenced to 20 years jail and six strokes of the rotan, but the court ordered for the sentence to run concurrently from the date of arrest on November 13. – July 2, 2024
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