JOHOR BAHRU, March 15 — A man and his girlfriend were sentenced to death by the High Court here today for the murder of his three-year-old son, four years ago.

High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah sent Mohd Imran Mohd Ramly, 34, and his girlfriend Norhidayah Mamid, 30, to the gallows after the defence failed to raise reasonable doubts on the prosecution’s case.

Mohd Imran and Norhidayah were jointly charged with murdering Muhammad Aqeef Adam Mohd Imran, in a house at A 2-22 Apartment Sri Putra, Jalan Meranti 7, Kulai, between midnight on December 16, 2013 and 6.45pm on December 19, 2013.

Mohd Imran, a former company manager and Norhidayah, unemployed, were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Code, which carries mandatory death sentence, upon conviction. 

The judge in his judgment said although there were no witnesses at the location when the tragedy unfold, decision could be made based on circumstantial evidence.

"The hospital pathologist confirmed that there were traces of continuous blunt force trauma on the victim’s head for a period of three months, which also the duration when the victim was under the custody of the two accused,” he said.

Mohd Imran appeared calm when the judge handed down the sentence, while Norhidayah burst into tears.

Throughout the trial which began on January 12 last year, the prosecution called 13 witnesses and the defence, four.

When called to enter their defence, both the accused opted to give their testimonies under oath with two witnesses.

Deputy public prosecutor Nor Iffa Zarilla Abd Rahman prosecuted, while Mohd Imran and Norhidayah was represented by counsel Normah Mohd Desa and Shahruddin Osman. — Bernama