A teenage boy accused of murdering his 16-year-old schoolmate Yap Shing Xuen has been acquitted of the murder charge after the High Court ruled today that he was legally insane at the time of the incident.
However, the court ordered the teenager to be placed in a psychiatric hospital under medical supervision, pending further orders from the Sultan of Selangor.
The boy’s lawyer, Feng Ji Xiang, told reporters outside court that Judge Adeline accepted the defence’s argument that the teenager was mentally ill when the incident occurred.
According to Feng, the court found that the accused suffered from medical insanity, which also amounted to legal insanity.
He said the teenager was therefore acquitted on the grounds of insanity and ordered to be sent to a psychiatric hospital for treatment under Section 348 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The case attracted nationwide attention after the then-14-year-old boy was accused of fatally attacking his 16-year-old schoolmate with a knife at a school in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, last year.
He was charged with murder at the Magistrates’ Court on Oct 22, 2025, before the case was transferred to the High Court. He pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him again on Feb 12 this year.
The accused was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for allegedly murdering Yap Shing Xuen at about 9.20am on Oct 14, 2025, inside a girls’ toilet on the ground floor of a secondary school in Bandar Utama.
A conviction under Section 302 carries the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years, together with at least 12 strokes of whipping.
However, Section 97 of the Child Act 2001 provides that a person below 18 at the time of an offence cannot be sentenced to death. The matter is instead subject to the relevant provisions concerning detention and the discretion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or state Ruler.
The trial began on Aug 3, with the prosecution calling 11 witnesses over six days, including a forensic expert, teachers from the school and the investigating officer.
The prosecution completed its case on Aug 11.
On Aug 13, Judge Adeline ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case and ordered the teenager to enter his defence.
The latest ruling clears the teenager of the murder charge, but he will remain under psychiatric care pending further orders from the Sultan of Selangor.
