Fourteen men, including two brothers and two teenagers, have been charged with the murder of a 19-year-old man whose body was found in a bushy area in Kedah last week.
The accused, aged between 16 and 24, appeared before Magistrate Anis Suraya Ahmad today. All 14 nodded to indicate they understood the charge, but no pleas were recorded as murder cases fall under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
They are accused of jointly murdering Muhammad Haikal Mohd Shahrilnizam at a house along Jalan Sungai Petani in Gurun between 9pm on Oct 5 and 7.30am on Oct 8.
The charge was brought under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34, which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years and at least 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
The court denied bail to all the accused and fixed Dec 23 for the next mention of the case and the submission of documents.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nik Nurhazirah Tuan Yahya led the prosecution, while three of the accused were represented by lawyer Mohamad Ashraf Ahmad Sohaimi.
Kedah police chief Datuk Adzli Abu Shah said earlier that Muhammad Haikal’s body was found dumped in a bushy area. He was believed to have been beaten after being accused of stealing a motorcycle.
Investigations indicated that the victim had allegedly been held captive and tortured for two days. A post-mortem found that he died from head injuries caused by blunt-force trauma.
The victim’s mother, Azura Zor, 41, said she never expected her eldest son, whom she had been unable to contact since late last month, to be found dead.
