A Singaporean man found guilty of murdering his wife and stepson has been sentenced to 72 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane by a Malaysian court.
Shahrul Nizam Zuraimy, 36, had killed and dismembered his victims and disposed of them in different locations in October 2019.
He was charged with two counts of murder for causing the deaths of Norfazera Bidin, 27, and Muhammad Iman Ashraf, 11, at a house in Melaka between 6pm on Oct 6, 2019, and 7.30am on Oct 7, 2019, reported state news agency Bernama.
The Melaka High Court on Aug 18 ordered Shahrul to serve 36 years in prison and receive 12 strokes of the cane for each of the two charges.
The sentences run consecutively beginning from his date of arrest on Oct 11, 2019, reported the New Straits Times (NST).
High Court judge Anselm Charles Fernandis said the act of dismembering and disposing of the victims’ body parts appeared to be an attempt to prevent the authorities from identifying the victims.
“The heads of both victims were carefully wrapped and hidden in the ceiling to prevent the smell and blood from being detected,” he was quoted as saying by NST.
Shahrul had also reportedly disposed parts of the victims in a bush.
“The court also took into consideration the accused’s action of cleaning the house after the incident before he went to Singapore and was arrested by police there, before being handed over to Malaysian police.
“After reviewing all the testimonies from both prosecution and defence witnesses, the court found the accused guilty of both charges,” Datuk Anselm reportedly said.
Norfazera’s mother and sister had earlier pleaded for Shahrul to be given the death penalty, saying that they suffered continuous trauma as the accused had committed a brutal murder.
However, Shahrul’s lawyers appealed for him to be spared the death sentence as he had repented and regretted his actions, and had also behaved well throughout his six years in prison since being arrested, reported NST.
Rhea Yasmine for The Straits Times
