Balia Yusof Wahi JC:

The accused in this case was charged as follows:

Bahawa kamu pada 12.8.2000, di antara jam 8.30 malam hingga 10.00 malam di dalam kebun kelapa sawit, di tepi Taman Pelangi, Langkap, di dalam Daerah Hilir Perak, di dalam Negeri Perak, telah melakukan pembunuhan dengan menyebabkan kematian Shamsul bin Arbain, K/P: 730309-08-5933, dan oleh yang demikian kamu telah melakukan suatu kesalahan yang boleh di hukum di bawah Seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan.

Another accused person by the name of Saravanan a/l Ayavoo who is the brother of the accused was also charged for the same offence in case No. PCT.45-03-02. An application was made for the above two cases to be heard jointly and accordingly the two cases were so heard for which the accused Saravanan a/l Ayavoo in case No. PCT. 45-03-02 was acquitted and discharged without his defence being called at the close of the prosecution case.

The evidence adduced by the prosecution were as follows: On 14 August 2000 SP1 who was on duty at the enquiry office Balai Polis Langkap received a telephone call from an unknown person regarding the discovery of a corpse in an oil palm estate. A police party was sent to the scene and recovered a naked body of a male with maggot all over the body. The body was subsequently sent to the Teluk Intan Hospital Mortuary where a post mortem was done on 16 August 2000 by SP4. The cause of death according to SP4 was the injury to the carotid artery which results in the loss of blood. The said injury was likely to be caused by a sharp object. SP4 testified there were 14 injuries altogether on the body comprising of stab wounds, slash wound and scratches. The injuries were mostly on the neck of the deceased.

In proving the identity of the deceased, the prosecution called three witnesses namely SP6, SP8 and SP9. SP6; the father of the deceased testified that he identified the body to be that of his son from the teeth and the build where he stated:

Mayat tak boleh cam sebab hitam tetapi bentuk badan dan tanda gigi atas kiri berlapis. Di sebelah atas gigi itu pecah.

From the evidence of SP8, an officer from the Pusat Pendaftaran Jenayah Bukit Aman, the prosecution sought to establish the identity of the deceased from the thumb print, obtained from the deceased and comparing it with the thumb print on the deceased's identity card. Using the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) computer analysis and comparison of the thumb prints, SP8 concludes that the identity of the deceased was that of Shamsul b. Arbain.

SP9, an officer from the Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara, Batu Gajah testified that on 29 August 2000 one ASP Suhaimi (SP14) the investigating officer of this case came to his office requesting him to do a comparison on the thumb print which he brought along with him and to see whether it matches with the thumb print on the identity card of the deceased. Upon scanning it and using the AFIS system SP9 testified that the thumb print matches, indicating that they belong to the deceased.

The prosecution sought to invoke the provision of s. 32 of the Evidence Act by introducing through SP11 a statement made under s. 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The said statement which was recorded by SP11 belonged to a witness by the name of Rubin bin Jaibit who is now missing and could not be traced. SP11 testified that on 9 September 2000 he recorded a statement from Rubin bin Jaibit under s. 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code at Balai Polis Langkap. According to SP11 he did so on the instruction of ASP Suhaimi (SP14). Altogether the statement comprises of 9 pages and SP11 only recorded the first three pages of the statement which he signed and countersigned by the said witness. In his testimony SP11 states that the statement he recorded from the witness was pertaining to a murder case. The prosecution sought to introduce the statement and on the objection of the defence, the statement was marked only as ID12. Other witnesses were called by th