R Arasan, 32, and his brother, R Utes, 36, nodded when the charges were read out to them before magistrate Nabilah Nizam at the Johor Bahru magistrates’ court today.

The brothers are the main suspects in the case involving the discovery of six skeletal remains in a burnt house at an oil palm plantation in Kangkar Pulai, reported Berita Harian.

Investigations found that the victims were a 35-year-old woman, her two-year-old son, three daughters aged five, nine, and 17, and a 29-year-old man believed to be the woman’s friend.

The brothers are believed to be friends of the two adult victims.

They were accused of jointly murdering V Thamil Selvan, 28, between 12.30am and 4am on Sept 15 last year.

They were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, which provides for the death penalty or 30 to 40 years’ imprisonment and no less than 12 strokes of the rotan.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Siti Aishah Latif while the siblings were represented by Hamizi Yusof and Isa Basir.

The court set April 6 for case mention while awaiting autopsy, toxicology and DNA test reports. No bail was allowed.

The skeletal remains were found on Jan 9 by a 48-year-old man who was looking for his family members after losing contact with them three months ago.