KOTA KINABALU: The trial of a man who faces a charge of murdering his mother in Kota Belud commenced at the High Court here yesterday.
Bukhari Jinol, 39, who was brought before Justice Datuk Nurchaya Hj Arshad, was accused of murdering his 57-year-old mother at an unnumbered house at Kampung Linau at 10.40pm on May 1, 2017.
The alleged offence was framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
In the opening remarks, deputy public prosecutor Gan Peng Kun told the court that the prosecution would show that on the same day at 10pm before the alleged murder, the victim’s daughter heard her shouting for help at her home.
The daughter, who stays at a house nearby, had used a torchlight to find out what was happening and she saw that the accused had allegedly kicked and stepped on their mother.
She then called another brother and both of them went to the victim’s house while the accused left the scene.
Gan also said the victim’s daughter saw that the victim was bleeding from the face, hands and legs and was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to her injuries and died on their way to a hospital in Kota Kinabalu.
The prosecution will further adduce that the accused was later arrested on the same day at 11.20pm and was sent to a hospital to receive treatment as the police had obtained information that the accused was allegedly insane.
They would also prove evidence that the crime scene was allegedly cleaned before the police arrived and the alleged weapon which was a shovel, had also been removed from the scene to a house and was later discovered and seized by the police.
The prosecution also said a pathologist who conducted the post-mortem on the victim would be called to testify that the post-mortem found multiple injuries on the face, arms and hands while the victim’s ribs were fractured and the cause of death was severe chest injury.
Gan added a psychiatrist would also be produced to give evidence on the mental condition of the accused where the doctor allegedly found that the accused was of unsound mind and was incapable of knowing the nature of the act during the commission of the alleged murder.
In the course of the trial, the prosecution will prove by direct and circumstantial evidence that it is the accused who allegedly caused the death of the victim.
However, the accused may not have the necessary mens rea in causing the death based on the findings of the psychiatrist.
The accused, who was represented by counsel Rizwandean Bukhari M Borhan, is currently detained in custody pending disposal of the case.