E-HAILING DRIVER MURDER CASE TRANSFERRED TO TAWAU HIGH COURT

TAWAU, July 11 (Bernama) -- The Magistrate's Court here today ordered the case involving the murder of e-hailing driver Nurman Bakaratu, allegedly killed by his ex-wife and her stepbrother last year in an oil palm plantation, to be transferred to the High Court here.

Magistrate Dayang Aidaku Amira Aminuddin allowed the request of deputy public prosecutor Mohammad Fakrurrazi Ahmad Salim to transfer the case against Nurima Juli, 35, and her stepbrother Sadam Kiram, 30, under Section 177A of the Criminal Procedure Code.

However, the date for mention in the High Court has not yet been set.

On April 24, Nurima and Sadam were charged with the murder in the Tawau Magistrate's Court.

According to the charge, they are accused of causing the death of Nurman, 61, between 7.30 pm and 11.30 pm on Jan 13 last year at an oil palm plantation near Jalan Anjur Juara, Jalan Apas Batu 5, here.

The charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, carries the death penalty or imprisonment of up to 40 years and a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.

Previously, former Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) Intelligence chief SAC Datuk Mat Zaki Md Zain and seven others were tried in the High Court for Nurman's death.

However, they were acquitted and discharged on Jan 25 after the prosecution decided to drop the case.

This decision came after Nurima, the key prosecution witness, confessed on Jan 25 to killing her ex-husband with a pair of scissors inside the white Myvi car they were travelling in, which had stopped at an oil palm plantation on Jan 13, 2023.

Sadam, who had been charged on Aug 24 last year with tampering with evidence related to the discovery of Nurman’s body, had his charge dropped today at the prosecution's request following the murder charge against him on April 24.

-- BERNAMA