A three-member bench, comprising Justices Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and SM Komathy Suppiah, upheld the convictions of Anuar Yusof and his wife, Murni Ahmad, for the offence and ruled that there was no merit in their appeals.
Hadhariah, who delivered the court’s unanimous decision, said the court found overwhelming evidence that the 22-year-old Siti Hajar died due to the acts of the couple, her father and stepmother, who neglected, abused and starved her for a period of three to six months.
She, however, set aside the death sentence imposed on the couple by the High Court, substituting it with imprisonment of 40 years, and ordered them to begin their jail sentence from the date of their arrest on April 26, 2016.
“This is a very sad case and the worst case under Section 302 of the Penal Code that we have read,” said Hadhariah.
Following an amendment made to Section 302 of the Penal Code, the court can impose a jail term of not less than 30 years and not exceeding 40 years on offenders who are not given the death sentence. Male offenders shall also be punished with whipping of not less than 12 strokes.
Anuar, 57, and Murni, 42, were found guilty by the High Court in 2021 of murdering Siti Hajar at a house along Jalan Air Putih, Taman Semarak, Binjai in Chukai at 10.45pm on April 26, 2016. They were sentenced to death, prompting the appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Apart from the couple, two of their children, Siti Sarah Anuar and her brother (who was 14 years old at the time of the incident) were also charged with murdering Siti Hajar, but were acquitted and discharged by the High Court.
The prosecution filed an appeal but it was struck out on Jan 10 last year as they could not serve the notice of appeal on the duo.
Siti Hajar weighed around 18kg when she died. The deceased had been staying with her biological father and stepmother, an older sister and a younger brother in a rented house since 2008.
The facts of the case revealed that Siti Hajar was extremely emaciated, with no flesh and only skin and bones. She had wounds on the head and bruises on her body, including her anus.
A forensic expert who examined the body confirmed that Siti Hajar died due to bacterial infection in the lungs and anus caused by abuse, starvation and neglect. She also had 36 human bite marks on her back, both hands and feet and in her genital area.
A witness testified in the trial that whenever Siti Hajar’s siblings wanted to eat, they were required to beat her up first. Only after that would their stepmother allow them to eat.
Lawyer Ghazali Ismail represented the couple while deputy public prosecutor Norzilati Izhani Zainal appeared for the prosecution.