The prosecution requested the site visit to understand better the testimony of star witness T Previin as this was where Previin and Nhaveen were allegedly assaulted by the four accused when Previin scolded one of the accused for calling Nhaveen “pondan” (effeminate).

Judicial commissioner Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid led a group of court staff, interpreters, prosecutors and lawyers to the site at Jalan Kaki Bukit near the Karpal Singh Learning Centre at 3.15pm.

Taking notes on a hardcover notebook, he declared the trial to have resumed there, with the four accused held in chain-linked cuffs.

Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Khairul Anuar Abdul Halim then asked Previin to re-enact how he was put in a headlock and dragged across the road and hurled off a bridge. Previin also showed the direction in which he had come on his motorcycle that fateful day and encountered two of the accused.

They spent about 45 minutes at the site.

Earlier in court, Previin narrated the events that led to the assault on Nhaveen. He and Nhaveen had gone to Jalan Kaki Bukit on his motorcycle from his home some 100m away on Jalan Bunga Raya.

They saw the accused, J Ragesuthan, also referred to as “Raga” in court, and another accused who cannot be named as he was a minor, along the road.

‘Pondan’ remark

Previin stopped the motorcycle to ask them why they taunted and bullied Nhaveen daily.

Previin said as he was asking the minor if it was appropriate to make fun of Nhaveen, who was older than him, Raga came from behind and held him in a headlock.

Raga then proceeded to drag Previin and flip him over the guardrails of a small bridge across a river there, according to Previin.

Previin said he was fortunate to have fallen onto a water supply pipe running along the bridge instead of the river a few metres below. He managed to climb back up onto the road through the marsh by the side of the river.

He said that was when he saw Nhaveen being beaten up by the minor. Nhaveen, he said, was screaming for help as he was repeatedly punched and kicked in his forearms, head and abdomen.

Previin then saw Raga calling for backup on the phone. He heard him asking S Gokulan, 18, another accused, to “come to Oasis” immediately.

Previin then came to blows with the minor in attempting to help Nhaveen. As they briefly stopped fighting, Previin said, he pleaded with Raga to stop whatever they were planning.

Helmet weapon

Previin said Raga and the minor then turned on him, beating him with a helmet. When Nhaveen pleaded with Raga to stop hitting Previin, the duo started hitting the deceased again.

Then, Previin said, another accused, also a minor, arrived on a motorcycle and joined Raga and the other youth in beating him and Nhaveen.

He said Gokulan, who had been called for backup by Raga earlier, arrived with “about 14 others” in a convoy of motorcycles. Previin said he only recognised two of them.

However, Previin said, the 14 “just watched” as he and Nhaveen were beaten up by the four accused. He said as it was late at night, there were no cars or passers-by, but the street lights were on and lit up the area.

Better leave or get killed

Previin said a neutral party in the group of men, “Parvin”, then advised him and Nhaveen to leave immediately, warning them “you can get killed” if they stayed any longer.

Previin said at this point Nhaveen was swollen all over due to the beating but was holding up and “still standing”.

He said the assailants told him to leave while a man going by the name of “Belang” asked Nhaveen to follow him on his motorcycle to an open field nearby. Nhaveen obliged.

The court then went for the site visit.

Ragesuthan, Gokulan and two others are charged with the murder of Nhaveen on June 19, 2017. The other two were juveniles when they were charged.

They are accused of murdering Nhaveen near the Karpal Singh Learning Centre, Jalan Kaki Bukit, Gelugor between 11pm and midnight. They are being detained at the Sungai Petani Juvenile Prison.

Also appearing for the prosecution were Noor Azura Zulkiflee and Yazid Mustaqim Roslan, while Maanveer Singh Dhillon and Yagoo Subramaniam represented the accused.

Sukhindarpal Singh held a watching brief for the Bar Council, while Rajesh Nagarajan and Arun Ganesh Boopalan held a watching brief for Nhaveen’s family.

The trial continues tomorrow.