SARIKEI: The magistrates’ court ordered the suspect in a murder case, reported in Tanjung Manis near here, to be further remanded in Sibu Central Prison, pending the next mention of the case on May 2.
The order was made under Section 259 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) as the tentative charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code as murder is a non-bailable offence.
The magistrates’ court made the order following the expiry of the remand order on the suspect yesterday and after being informed by the case’s prosecuting officer Inspector Ambarasu Gobi that he had yet to receive consent to prosecute from the higher authority.
Ambarasu further told the court that he had yet to receive the chemist report.
The suspect, a 48-year-old Vietnamese national who worked as the chief engineer on board the Japan-bound cargo ship, was alleged to have stabbed to death his countryman, aged 38 who was the ship’s captain.
The duo were said to have been involved in a quarrel due to some misunderstanding after they returned from a drinking session around midnight.
During the bloody incident, the suspect had killed the victim by stabbing him with a kitchen knife, Ambarasu said, adding that 13 stab wounds were found on the victim’s body.
The suspect had been tentatively charged with murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction.