Labourer Acquitted Of Murdering Single Mother, Her Male Friend

JOHOR BAHRU, July 18 (Bernama) -- The High Court here today discharged and acquitted a labourer of a charge of murdering a single mother and her male friend at a flat unit in Taman Ungku Aminah, Skudai here, seven years ago.

Judge Datuk Abu Bakar Katar made the ruling after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused, M. Jaykumar, 39, at the close of its case.

In his judgment, Abu Bakar said the prosecution had failed to prove that the deaths of K. Kamala, 51, and S. Silvaraja, 59, were caused by injuries inflicted by the accused.

He said the court also took into account that no traces of the victims’ blood were found on the accused’s clothes or belongings, and that the investigating officer did not seize these items to test for the victims’ deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

“The prosecution also failed to prove that the jewellery pawned by the accused belonged to Kamala, as her children could not confirm its ownership during testimony. There is reasonable doubt since some jewellery was still found with Kamala,” he said.

“The prosecution attempted to rely on the theory that the accused was the last person seen with the victims, setting the timeline between 7 pm on Oct 31 and 3 am on Nov 1.

“However, according to a witness, Kamala was still on the phone at 11.50 pm. How could the prosecution fix 7 pm as the starting time when the victim was still alive? This court finds that without other supporting evidence, it is insufficient to link the accused to the murders,” the judge said.

M. Jaykumar was charged with the murders of K. Kamala and S. Silvaraja at a flat unit in Jalan Hang Jebat 14, Taman Ungku Aminah, between 7 pm and 3 am on Oct 31 and Nov 1, 2018.

The charge, framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

A total of 20 witnesses were called by the prosecution, led by deputy public prosecutor Juanita Mohd Said, while Jaykumar was represented by lawyers Datin Freda Sabapathy and K. Sarawanan.

-- BERNAMA