KUALA LUMPUR – The high court today found six Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) students guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to the murder of UPNM marine cadet officer Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain four years ago.
Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah made the decision on Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi Azmal, Muhammad Azamuddin Mad Sofi, Muhammad Najib Mohd Razi, Muhammad Afif Najmudin Azahat, Mohamad Shobirin Sabri and Abdoul Hakeem Mohd Ali after finding that the defence had succeeded in proving that all the accused had caused injuries to Zulfarhan without the intent to kill.
“With this, six of you with common intent and with the abetment of the sixth accused (Hakeem) were found guilty under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code of causing injuries to the deceased with no intent of murder,” the judge said.
Section 304(a) states that those guilty of culpable homicide shall be punished with imprisonment up to 20 years and a fine.
Five of the accused are facing a murder charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death sentence, upon conviction, while Hakeem is charged with abetting the murder under Section 109 of the same act, which carries a similar sentence.
Meanwhile, six of the accused along with 12 others were found guilty of injuring Zulfarhan under Section 330 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same code.
They are Mohd Hafiz Fauzan Ismail, Mohamad Lukhmanul Hakim Mohd Zain, Ahmad Shafwan Berdal, Muhammad Amirul Asraff Mala, Luqman Hakim Shamsuri, Muhammad Sufi Mohd Mustapha, Noriznan Izzairi Noor Azhar, Muhamad Ashraf Abdullah, Muhammad Danial Firdaus Azmir, Muhammad Hasif, Muhammad Adib Iman, and Mohamad Syazwan.
All of them, now aged 25, committed the offence in two rooms at the Jebat dormitory block, UPNM, on May 21 and 22, 2017
Zulfarhan succumbed to his injuries at Serdang Hospital on June 1, 2017. – Bernama, November 2, 2021
