Express bus driver convicted of murder-rape, sentenced to death
fairplay
death
by Rosnazura Idrus naz...@nstp.com.my
April 26: The High Court today sentenced bus driver Hanafi
Mat Hassan to death after finding him guilty of killing
computer engineer Noor Suzaily Mukhtar two years
ago.Rosnazura Idrus in SHAH ALAM
Judge Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus, who delivered his
14-page judgment in a packed courtroom, also sentenced
Hanafi, 34, to the maximum 20 years' jail and 12 strokes of
the rotan for raping Noor Suzaily.
The jail sentence was to run from the date of his arrest -
Oct 10, 2000,
While ordering for the death sentence and the jail term to
run concurrently, Hishamudin also ordered for the death
sentence to take precedent of the whippings.
"The accused is to be hanged by the neck till he is dead,"
he said.
Hanafi, who was ordered to stand in the dock while Mohd
Hishamudin delivered the sentences, did not show any
expression. Neither did he show any expression while Mohd
Hishamudin was reading his judgment.
He was, however, seen smiling broadly after coming out of
the dock soon after the sentences were passed. None of his
family members were present in the courtroom.
Hanafi of Kampung Renik, Banggu, Kota Baru, Kelantan was
found guilty of causing the death of Noor Suzaily, 24, on
Oct 7, 2000, between 8.50am at Lorong Pegaga, Taman Chi
Liung, Klang, and 9.15am at a construction site in Taman
Bukit Tinggi, Klang.
He was also convicted of raping Noor Suzaily at the same
time and place.
Mohd Hishamudin, in his judgment, said he was satisfied that
the prosecution had succeeded in proving their case beyond
reasonable doubt and that Hanafi's defence was made up and
incomplete.
He said he was satisfied with the evidence by forensic
patologist Dr Halim Mansar that Noor Suzaily had been raped
and killed via strangulation and blunt trauma to the head.
"I am satisfied that the person who caused her death," he
said, "had did it with intention to kill."
Mohd Hishamudin said he made several inferences from the
circumstantial evidence adduced in court, which led to the
conclusion that Hanafi was the person who raped and murdered
Noor Suzaily.
On Hanafi's defence, Mohd Hishamudin said: "I am of the
opinion that the accused's story was a total made up and
Sikin did not exist."
Mohd Hishamudin said his reasons for saying that were
because the topic about Sikin was never brought up during
the prosecution case and if she really existed, the defence
would have cross-examined the prosecution witnesses about
her.
He also said that Hanafi's evidence on Sikin was incomplete.
"The accused did not say what happened to Sikin after
telling the court that she found a handphone in the bus," he
said. "The accused also failed to explain how his seminal
fluid could be found in Noor Suzaily's private part and
while not denying that Noor Suzaily's pendant was taken from
his house, he failed to explain how it ended up there."
Counsel Sreekant Pillai, who was appointed by the court to
represent Hanafi, did not submit much during mitigation
except to say that Hanafi was 34-years old and was a bus
driver prior to his arrest.
"With his salary, Hanafi supported a wife and a two-year-old
child," he said. "Following this incident, the wife now has
to work to support the child."
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Izzani Ishak, in pressing for a
death sentence, said the crime committed by Hanafi was very
cruel and that the victim's family had to live with the
tragic loss of the only daughter in the family for the rest
of their lives.
She also pointed out that Hanafi did not show any sign of
remorse throughout the hearing.
Nur Izzani also raised the fact that Hanafi had a previous
conviction in which he was sentenced to 30 months' jail and
two strokes of the rotan by the Kuala Terengganu Sessions
Court in 1997 for robbing and causing hurt.
Meanwhile, Noor Suzaily's brother Muhammad Muhairiss and her
male friend Rudy Shahrin Abdul Wahid were present throughout
the proceedings which started at 10.35am and ended at
11.45am.
Met by reporters outside the court, Muhammad Muhairiss
expressed his gratitude to the prosecution and the police
for helping his family in solving the case. "I am happy that
the sentences passed today were in propotion to the crimes
committed," said the 30-year-old tarvel agent based in Kuala
Perlis.
As for Rudy, he expressed relief that the trial, which had
reached its 62nd day today, was finally over.