KOTA BHARU, April 30 — A mentally disabled man was charged in the Magistrate’s Court here today with murdering his father last week.

Mohd Azwan Muhammad, 41, was charged with murdering Muhammad Ishak, 83, at a house in Kampung Baung Bayam here at 10.30 am on April 20 under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty or a maximum prison term of 40 years and not less than 12 strokes of the cane, upon conviction.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Nadzir Abdullah said the post-mortem report had not yet been received and asked for the man to be sent to undergo a psychiatric assessment.

Magistrate Rais Imran Hamid ordered the accused, who is represented by lawyers Tengku Shazuan Tengku Shariffudin and Ahmad Nizam Mohamed, to be sent to Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak, for a psychiatric assessment under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The court fixed June 30 for mention.

Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat was quoted as saying that preliminary investigations found that the suspect, who has been confirmed to suffer from schizophrenia, punched his father after he was reprimanded for relieving himself. — Bernama