KUALA LUMPUR – Five men were sentenced to life imprisonment and given 10 strokes of the rotan each, after the high court here found them guilty of the abduction of a money changer for ransom, four years ago.
Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir passed the sentence after the defence failed to raise a reasonable doubt in the case involving T. Shasitaran, 38, A. Ashokan, 39, Mohd Sultan Ahmad Kabir, 43, Ong San Chia, 37, and Yeoh Shyh Ming, 33.
The court ordered each of the accused to serve the prison sentence from the date of arrest, October 2 and 3, 2016 at the Penang Prison.
They were charged and put on trial in Penang, but the verdict was only delivered here today after Akhtar was transferred from Penang to Kuala Lumpur.
In his judgement, Akhtar said there was evidence that the victim was kidnapped in front of his house and all the accused had demanded a ransom of RM3 million.
He added that the court also found that all the defendants had lied when they testified in self-defence that the victim had falsely identified the kidnappers.
“The victim, who suffers from diabetes, only injured his thumb when his hands were handcuffed and the court ruled that no extreme violence had been inflicted on the victim,” he said.
They were charged with the abduction of Hawazanajmi K Shahapudeen with intention to seek a ransom of RM3 million by the roadside of Jalan Rumbia near Kristal Garden, Bayan Lepas at 10.30 am on September 28, 2016.
They were charged under Section 3(1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961, read with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death sentence or life imprisonment or whipping, upon conviction.
On March 1, the Georgetown High Court ordered all the accused to enter their defence after the prosecution had established a prima facie case against them. – Bernama, September 28, 2022
