Balia Yusof J:

[1] The accused was charged for the murder of one Sujitha a/p Subramaniam which according to the charge preferred against him took place between 2.15pm and 9pm on 13 April 2000 at the KM 88 lebuh raya Persekutuan Ipoh/Kuala Lumpur The charge against him reads as follows:

Bahawa kamu, pada 13 Ogos 2000, diantara jam 2.15 petang hingga 9.00 malam, di Kilometer 88, Jalan Persekutuan Ipoh - Kuala Lumpur, Behrang Station, di dalam Daerah Batang Padang, di dalam Negeri Perak, telah melakukan pembunuhan dengan menyebabkan kematian Sujitha a/p Subramaniam, KPT No: 771003-02-5576, oleh yang demikian kamu telah melakukan kesalahan yang boleh dihukum di bawah s 302 Kanun Keseksaan.

[2] On 14 August 2000 at about 2pm one Mohd Arif bin Pandak Kamal (SP2) while doing supervisory work on pipe laying for water supply project in the Slim River area stumbled upon a dead body and went to report the same to SP1 who was on duty at the Balai Polis Behrang Station. Upon receiving the information SP1 together with a colleague went to the scene and discovered a body of a female wearing a dark colored bra and clad in blue jeans. The face was covered with blood and there were wounds on the head and the cheek. A pair of shoes, a belt, a black T shirt and a pair of spectacles were also seen nearby. A police report Vide Behrang Station Report 288/2000 was lodged by this witness and produced and marked as exh P2. Soon afterwards the scene of the crime was visited by the Investigating Officer, Cif Inspector Masuri bin Kasnan (SP16) together with a police photographer and another police officer one Cif Inspector Somu a/I Supramaniam (SP13). The scene of the crime was identified as KM 88 lebuh raya Persekutuan Ipoh/Kuala Lumpur According to the testimony of both SP13 and SP16 the body was lying upwards with both hands tied over the head with a rafia string. The neck of the deceased was also tied with a plastic rope with one end tied to a small tree. A sketch plan of the scene was drawn by SP16 and produced as exh P76. The body was taken to the District Hospital Tanjung Malim where a post-mortem was conducted on 15 August 2000. During the post-mortem, the body was identified as Sujitha a/p Subramaniam by the members of the family of the deceased and also SP13. Cause of death was stated by the pathologist as ligature strangulation. Police investigation reveals that the deceased had on 12 August 2000 visited her family in Ipoh together with the accused and on 13 August 2000 at about 2pm both of them left together on a motorcycle for Kuala Lumpur That was the last time the deceased was seen alive. It was established that both of them are lovers and staying together in a rented room in Petaling Jaya.

[3] The evidence produced by the prosecution in the case against the accused is purely circumstantial. The sister of the deceased, SP5 testified that on 12 August 2000 the deceased came back to their mother's house in Ipoh with the accused whom she identified as the boyfriend of the deceased. They came on a motorcycle and during their conversations that evening suddenly there was an altercation between the deceased and the accused and the accused was heard angrily saying to the deceased, "Saya akan ajar awak di sana." The witness was however unable to say exactly why those words were uttered by the accused but affirmed that there was a quarrel of some sort between the accused and the deceased. The next day at about 2pm the witness saw both the accused and the deceased leaving for Kuala Lumpur on a motorcycle. That was the last time the deceased was seen alive by SP5. In her evidence this witness also stated that the conversation that evening revolved around the deceased's behaviour among which the accused informing the deceased's mother about love bites found on the deceased's neck.

[4] Another sister of the deceased, SP8 testified that when the deceased came to visit them in Ipoh on 12 August 2000 she was wearing some jewelleries and she also brought