PUTRAJAYA, Aug 7 — The Federal Court has commuted the death sentence of a former security guard to 38 years in jail for the murder of Perak Veterinary Department deputy director Dr Rohani Kassim 13 years ago.
A three-judge panel led by Justice Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal today allowed Syahmie Hassan’s review application to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.
The other judges presiding in the panel were Justices Datuk Abu Bakar Jais and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah.
In allowing the review application, Justice Harmindar said the accused was 20 years of age at the time of the offence. He added that the death penalty should only be retained for cases involving exceptional circumstances and extreme violence.
Justice Harmindar ordered Syahmie to receive 12 strokes of the cane and to begin serving the prison term from the date of his arrest (August 4, 2011).
Syahmie, now 32, was found guilty and sentenced to death by the Ipoh High Court in Perak on July 31, 2015, for killing Dr Rohani, 38, in her apartment unit in Persiaran Lembah Perpaduan, Permai Lake View in Ulu Kinta, Perak, between 6pm and 7.30pm on August 3, 2011.
On May 18, 2016, the Court of Appeal upheld the accused’s conviction and death penalty. The Federal Court dismissed his appeal against his conviction and death penalty on January 11, 2018.
Syahmie’s lawyer Abdul Rashid Ismail asked the court to consider his client’s mental state at the time of the offence and his status as a young offender.
Deputy public prosecutor How May Ling opposed the review application, arguing that the crime committed by the accused was violent and merciless.
According to the evidence presented at the trial in the High Court, Syahmie had broken into Dr Rohani’s apartment with the intention of robbing her, and waited for her to return home after initially failing to find any valuables.
In a struggle, Dr Rohani bit her assailant’s finger but he pushed her away causing her to fall and knock her head on a table. Realising she was still alive, the accused proceeded to strangle the deceased using a curtain cloth until she stopped breathing. Syahmie also copulated with the deceased after she had died.
— Bernama
