Augustine Paul J:

The accused was convicted under s. 307 of the Penal Code for the attempted murder of one Noor Junizah bte Mokhri (PW5) and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment by the Sessions Court at Melaka. This appeal is by the accused against the conviction and sentence.

The Facts Of The Case

On 5 May 1997 at about 6.45pm. PW5, aged 11, went to a provision shop near her house to look for her sister. On arrival at the shop she saw a male person (the accused) seated on a red motor cycle. The colour of the motor cycle was confirmed by PW7 and PW9. PW5 said that the accused was wearing a black jacket and a crash helmet. She was not sure of the colour of his trousers. She started playing with her sister and friends. The accused then asked her to follow him to look for 20 cents that Nurul Suhana, one of the children she was playing with, had lost. She rode pillion on his motor cycle for about 15 minutes to a rubber plantation. The accused stopped at the side of the plantation near a road. PW5 alighted from the motor cycle. The accused then removed his crash helmet. He was about 10 feet away from her. She said that she could see his face clearly though it was a bit dark. He then showed her photographs of women in bikini. At that time he was about three feet away from her and she said that again she saw his face clearly. She noticed that his hair was short, he had some pimples on his face and he was thin. After about five to ten minutes he began to strangle her neck. At that time he was about one and a half feet away from her. She said that she could see his face clearly at that time also. She then became unconscious and regained consciousness in the morning at the same place. She heard the sound of a motor cycle but had no voice to call for help. Two persons, Osman and Marshad who were on the motor cycle, helped her. While Marshad stayed with her Osman went to call her mother. She was then taken to a clinic and later to the hospital. She was warded for 25 days. On 12 July 1997 she went to Tiang Dua Police Station where she met Sjn. Amat Kaslar (PW13). He showed her two persons who were in a room. She identified the accused as the person who strangled her. On 14 July 1997 she attended an identification parade conducted by Inspector Arikrishnan (PW16) at the Melaka Police Headquarters. There were about 10 persons in the parade. She identified the accused. In cross-examination she said that she had not seen the accused prior to the incident. She was shown a photograph of the accused in her house by the police. It was shown to her after the identification parade in order to enable her to identify the accused correctly. She also added that she could identify the accused even without the photograph. She identified the accused in court.

Dr. Loke Tien Hsi (PW8) examined PW5 in the hospital on 6 May 1997. He said that she had bruises around both her eyes, a 2cm laceration underneath the left jaw, bruises around the neck area and abrasions on her left shoulder. She was very upset and weak and was crying. But she was able to describe what happened to her. Inspector Hadi bin Osman (PW18), the investigation officer, said that he visited PW5 in hospital on 14 May 1997. He asked her for a description of the person who had attacked her. At that time she was still frightened and did not give him any description. He added that till to date she had not given him any description of the person. PW13 said that he arrested the accused on 12 July 1997 and took PW5 to the Police Station at Tiang Dua to identify the accused. The accused was in a room with a policeman. PW13 asked her whether she could identify the thin man in the room. She said that she could identify him as the accused. PW16 said that he conducted the identification parade on 14 July 1997 at the Melaka Police Headquarters. He used 10 persons in the parade. All were male Malays aged 20 except for one who was aged 19. All of them were of the same build as the accused and wore si