IPOH — The High Court here today sentenced a man to death by hanging for killing a Bangladeshi man in Sungai Kinta, Sungai Galah area, Kampung Gajah in Perak Tengah district, seven years ago.

Judge Su Tiang Joo sentenced Mohamad Amier Amzar Mohamad Aspar, 28, after the man was found guilty of killing MD Ovaidul, 32, at the location between 8.20pm and 10.25pm, December 15, 2018, under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

Su in his judgment said he agreed with the prosecution that the murder was premeditated and committed in an extremely brutal manner by the convict.

“It could have caused much pain and agony to the deceased over a prolonged period of time in between the beating in his house and then being taken to the riverbank before the fatal cut was administered by the accused and the body unceremoniously dumped into the river to hide traces of the crime.

“In other words, the death was not sudden and quick. In the second circumstances, I accept the presumptions of the prosecution that the death sentence would be appropriate and I sentence the convict to be punished with death and pursuant to Section 277 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the accused is to be hanged by the neck until he is dead,” he said.

Su said he found that there are more aggravating circumstances than mitigating circumstances, among them are the convict interfering with prosecution witness, the pain and suffering from the injury suffered and the extent of the injuries, and the accused dumping the body of the deceased into the river.

“The convict is a Malaysian and the deceased a Bangladeshi national. This is a neutral circumstance because under Article 8, Sub-Article 1 of our Federal Constitution, all persons are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law,” he said.

Earlier, MD Hossain Khan, the victim’s brother, also delivered a victim impact statement with the help of an interpreter on behalf of his family in Bangladesh.

MD Hossain said MD Ovaidul was the third of six siblings with both parents still alive, besides the family was dependent on the victim working in Malaysia to support their livelihood in Bangladesh.

“Before the incident, my brother had told me that he planned to return to Bangladesh within a month to get married.