Justice Julia Ibrahim handed down the sentence to Hairil Izzuan A Samad after finding him guilty last month of killing Maizatulnisa Othman, 40, at Tasik Cyber Valley Park, Cyberjaya between July 29 and 30, 2020.

However, sentencing was fixed for today.

The judge ordered Hairil’s sentence to commence from the date of his arrest in August 2020.

The court also imposed 12 strokes of the cane on Hairil.

According to the facts of the case, police received a report from Hairil during the early hours of July 30, 2020, claiming that Maizatulnisa was unconscious inside her car. The car was parked near Tasik Cyber Valley Park.

During the trial, the court heard testimony from the couple’s daughter, who said that Maizatulnisa, a lecturer at the International Islamic University Malaysia, did not return home that night.

She said Maizatulnisa had informed her in the morning that she would be heading to the shariah court to settle divorce matters with Hairil.

The daughter said Maizatulnisa did not reply her WhatsApp messages on what happened in court.

As Maizatulnisa did not return, the daughter asked her father to accompany her to find her mother.

Hairil and his daughter hired an e-hailing vehicle, before he instructed the driver to drive around Cyberjaya.

At about midnight, guided by Hairil, the driver approached the lake area and found Maizatulnisa unconscious inside her car.

According to the daughter, Hairil was calm when police arrived at the scene while she was crying throughout.

Serdang Hospital forensic pathologist Dr Khairul Anuar Zainun, who conducted the post-mortem, found that Maizatulnisa’s had died from fatal “compression of the neck”.

He ruled out suicide as the cause of death.

During his defence, Hairil said he and Maizatulnisa had an argument in the car that day, and that she slapped him after he tried to pull her headscarf.

He alleged that she left the car after slapping him, and said he threw out her belongings near a mining area.

The court, however, ruled that Hairil’s defence was a bare denial and inconsistent with evidence tendered by the prosecution.

In handing down the custodial sentence, Julia said the crime against the deceased stemmed from a personal dispute.

“However, this caused the daughter to lose her mother at a young age, and it has caused trauma to the girl,” she said.