Alor gajah: A shop assistant was charged in the Magistrate's Court here today with the murder of his girlfriend's 19-month-old child.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Muhammad Isyraf Hifhzan Abdullah, 20, nodded after the charge was read out before Magistrate Dr Teo Shu Yee. No plea was recorded as the case falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court.

Muhammad Isyraf Hifhzan is accused of killing the baby girl on the third floor of a shop in Bandar Satelit Pulau Sebang, Alor Gajah, around 9 pm on July 6 this year.

He faces a sentence of death or imprisonment for no more than 40 years, along with whipping of no less than 12 strokes under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

No bail was granted, and the court has set September 23 for mention. Deputy Public Prosecutor Fiqri Hakim Zamri represented the prosecution, while the accused was unrepresented.