Four family members, including the biological mother, were charged at the Magistrate’s Court on Friday over the alleged murder of an eight-year-old girl last week.
The accused — M Savathri, 28, her husband and stepfather of the victim M Satis Kumar, 27, along with the child’s step-grandmother S C Veeraletchumy, 53, and step-grandfather M Murali, 49 — all nodded in understanding when the charges were read before Magistrate R Prabakaran.
No plea was recorded from all four accused as murder cases fall under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
According to the charge sheet, they are accused of jointly causing the death of a girl identified as Thanavitha at a house in Taman Sungai Mas, Larut Matang and Selama district, on the morning of 26 March.
The offence is framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment of not less than 30 years and up to 40 years, along with a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane if not sentenced to death.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Farihah Adilah Faizal, while all four accused were unrepresented. The victim’s family was represented by watching brief lawyers M Dinesh, G Devaneson and Low Tze Ken.
Relatives who had cared for the child from the age of six months before she was later handed over to her biological mother were also present in court to observe the proceedings.
The court fixed 15 May for case mention pending the results of DNA analysis, forensic investigations and post-mortem reports.
On 28 March, media reports stated that the eight-year-old girl died with multiple suspicious injuries, with early indications suggesting possible abuse in Taiping.
