KOTA KINABALU: A witness told the trial of a Pakistani trader charged with causing the death of Norikoh Saliwa yesterday that he saw the victim fall from the left side of a moving lorry about 70 metres away.
Indonesian Arwin Amin, 22, told Sessions Court judge Duncan Sikodol that he was heading to Marudu Laut at the time when he suddenly saw something fall out from the lorry.
“There was a car in front of me that stopped suddenly, so I moved to the other lane to avoid the car when all of a sudden, I saw the body of a girl some 30 metres away from me,” he said at the trial.
Amir Ali Khan Nawaty, 40, was alleged to have caused the death of Norikoh, 16, in a moving lorry along Jalan Km 2.8 Langkon from Kota Marudu between 11am and 12.30pm on November 25, 2012.
Amir, who was represented by counsel Rakhbir Singh, faces a jail term of up to 10 years or with a fine if found guilty under Section 304 (b) of the Penal Code.
To a question during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharuddin, Arwin said after he saw Norikoh’s body, he stopped his motorcycle at the road shoulder to look at it.
“I stopped for two minutes but later decided to turn back to Goshen township as it was my first time seeing something like this,” he recalled.
To another question, Arwin stated that he was not sure whether Norikoh was still alive or not at the time and all he could recall was that he saw the body lying at the roadside.
“I did not touch or see which part of her body was injured,” he said, adding that the car in front of him had stopped there too.
Arwin further testified that before he saw Norikoh fall out from the lorry, he noticed that the door of the left side of the lorry was open.
“The door was opened widely as if someone wanted to exit the vehicle, which was moving about 40 kilometres per hour,” he said.
Arwin also said that there were no more vehicles in front of him aside from the car and the lorry in front of it.
When asked by Raja Zaizul if he saw the lorry driver stop to do something, Arwin replied: “I turned back, so I did not see if the lorry driver did anything.”
DPP Afzan Abdul Kahar assisted Raja Zaizul while counsel Peter Marajin held a watching brief for Norikoh’s family.
The trial continues today.