KOTA KINABALU: A local man escaped the gallows after the High Court here yesterday freed him from a charge of murdering his pregnant wife last year.
Jaimal Abdul Sarin
Justice Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli acquitted self-employed Jaimal Abdul Sarin, 29, of the charge by reason of insanity.
“In accordance with section 348 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, I order the accused to be kept in the custoday of the appropriate mental hospital Kota Kinabalu and the case shall be reported to the Yang di Pertua Negeri Sabah for his necessary action,” he said.
Jaimal had murdered his 30-year-old wife Norhaliah Hatibil, who was a Filipino, at Kampung Kobunggi, Kerakit in Pulau Banggi, Kudat between 4pm and 6pm on Nov 25, 2009.
He was tried under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death sentence on conviction.
“Having heard the defence’s case and the surrounding circumstances under which the deceased met her death, I am satisfied that the defence of insanity has been established on a balance of probabilities.
“The learned DPP has rightly in my view taken the position that the prosecution is not contesting the defence.
“It is clear on the evidence that any reasonable man would conclude only a mad man would do what the accused had done to his wife whom he still loved,” Abdul Rahman said.
He said the evidence of the deceased’s father, who stayed together with the accused and the deceased showed that the accused and the deceased had never quarrelled except that the accused would get angry with the deceased when the children cried.
“He added that the acccused had never assaulted the deceased. There is no motive whatsoever for this tragic incident.
“The reason can only be, as claimed by the accused, that he heard voices asking him to kill his wife and then to cut off her nipples.
“Medical evidence that the accused was of unsound mind came from the psychiatrist Dr Kumaraswami Kannan.
He had testified that from his assessment he was of the opinion that the accused was not capable of knowing the nature of his act when he injured his wife.
“In the circumstances I order the accused to be acquitted of the offence charged by reason of unsoundness of mind although I find it proven beyond any reasonable doubt that it was the accused who caused the death of the deceased,” he added.
The trial started on Feb 16, with the prosecution calling nine witnesses before closing its case on Thursday.
The accused was ordered to enter his defence yesterday after the court ruled that the prosecution had establised a case against him.
Jaimal, who was represented by assigned counsel Wotti Jinius, gave unsworn statement from the dock and called the psychiatrist as his witness for the defence.