The High Court has dismissed an appeal by Ismanira Abdul Manaf, the mother of six-year-old Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matin, to overturn her conviction and five-year prison sentence for neglecting her son.
High Court Judge Noor Hisham Ismail said there were no grounds for the court to interfere with the decision of the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court, which found Ismanira, 31, guilty of the offence.
In delivering his decision today, Noor Hisham said the court had reviewed the appeal record, grounds of judgment as well as written and oral submissions from both sides. He said there were no errors of fact or law that warranted the conviction or sentence being set aside.
“The appellate court will only intervene if a sentence is clearly excessive, disproportionate, or if there has been an error of principle,” he said.
The judge also ruled that the five-year prison sentence was appropriate and not excessive based on the circumstances of the case. He stressed that Ismanira was being punished for her own act of neglect and not for any criminal act that may have been committed by another party.
Zayn Rayyan’s body was found in a stream near his home in December 2023.
The High Court also dismissed a prosecution cross-appeal seeking a heavier sentence, with the prosecution arguing that the five-year term did not provide sufficient deterrence.
Ismanira had filed her appeal on January 7, challenging the sentence imposed by the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court. Her defence argued, among other matters, that the charge should have been brought under Section 33 instead of Section 31 of the Child Act 2001.
The defence also claimed that the Sessions Court judge had erred in rejecting evidence from a qualified expert because the expert had not personally examined Zayn Rayyan. The defence argued that this was inconsistent with the prosecution’s reliance on expert opinions from individuals who had also not examined the child or been called as witnesses.
According to the appeal petition, the defence described the rejection of the expert evidence as arbitrary and disproportionate, and alleged that it amounted to a serious error in evaluating the evidence.
The Sessions Court had previously ruled that the defence failed to raise reasonable doubt and ordered Ismanira to begin serving her five-year prison sentence immediately.
She was also ordered to sign a two-year good behaviour bond with one surety and pay RM3,000 bail upon her release, as well as complete 120 hours of community service within six months of completing her prison sentence.
Ismanira was represented by lawyers Haresh Mahadevan, Tiara Katirina Fuad, Lavanesh Mahadevan and Haijan Omar, while the prosecution was represented by deputy public prosecutors Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharudin, Kamarul Iman Ahmad Sapian and Ahmad Iqbal Azman.
