A three-member panel comprising Justices Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, Nordin Hassan and Hanipah Farikullah made the decision on Aug 27 when they allowed the prosecution’s appeal to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision.

On June 8 last year, the appellate court reduced Khairuanuar Baharuddin’s conviction from murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

Khairuanuar was charged with murdering his stepdaughter, Hanis Amanda, in a condominium unit in Section 5, Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur between 7am and 7.30pm on Nov 6, 2015.

He was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to death by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in March 2021.

Deputy public prosecutor Iznina Hanim Hashim represented the prosecution, while lawyer Fahri Azzat represented Khairuanuar. Both confirmed the Federal Court’s decision when contacted.

According to Iznina, Harmindar held that the High Court was correct in ruling that the prosecution had proven the murder case beyond reasonable doubt.

On the same day, the Federal Court also dismissed a cross-appeal by Khairuanuar for an acquittal.

During the trial, the High Court heard that Hanis’s biological father and stepmother discovered bruises on her body some time in November 2015.

Hanis’s father testified that the child had complained of pain and told him that it was “Papa Bi” who caused the bruises. According to him, the child meant Khairuanuar.

Hanis’s mother married Khairuanuar after divorcing her husband in 2013, and the father married another woman.