Ipoh: A former poultry trader was sentenced to death by the Court of Appeal today for the murder of a single mother who had rejected his marriage proposal. A three-member bench, comprising Justices Datuk Azmi Ariffin, Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid, allowed the prosecution's cross-appeal to impose the death penalty on Mohd Nur Hussein Mohd Salleh.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the court overturned the High Court's previous sentence of 38 years in prison and 20 strokes of the cane. Justice Noorin, who announced the court's decision, stated that Mohd Nur Hussein had meticulously planned the murder of the victim because his love was unreciprocated. The court found that he committed a brutal act, noting that the victim's injuries were consistent with those from a slaughter, and evidence showed he attempted to set fire to the room where her body was discovered.
The judge further noted that Mohd Nur Hussein had planned to avoid implication by visiting a cyber cafe to create an alibi. However, witnesses testified to seeing him near the victim's house during the crime. The appellant entered the victim's house early in the morning, stabbing her eight times, resulting in a severed vein in her neck. The court agreed with the prosecution that there was no remorse from the appellant, who also stole valuable items belonging to the victim and her child.
The court also rejected Mohd Nur Hussein's appeal against his conviction, ruling that the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution was sufficient to prove he committed the murder. Mohd Nur Hussein, 42, was found guilty by the High Court on September 8, 2023, for murdering Hamidah Abdul Rahman, 53, a shop assistant, at a house in Taman Datuk Liew Yan Sip, Ipoh, Perak, between 3 am and 5 am on March 13, 2017.
The case facts revealed that the victim had known Mohd Nur Hussein for several years before the incident. They were friends and often went out together. The accused had proposed marriage, but she rejected it due to the age difference, being 20 years his senior. Two months before the incident, the woman got engaged to a retired policeman.
In his submission, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Amril Johari called for the death penalty, citing the crime's gruesome nature and the motive of jealousy, described as "if I can't have her, no one else can." Mohd Nur Hussein's lawyer, Mohamad Hafiz Jalaludin, argued that there was no evidence from a prosecution witness, who was the deceased's neighbor, to prove that the accused had entered the victim's house or met her.