31-07-2025
Melaka man gets 33 years in prison for 2018 murder of car rental customer
KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — The High Court today sentenced a former car rental operator to 33 years in prison for murdering a woman who had rented a vehicle from him seven years ago.
Judge Datuk Anselm Charles Fernandis found Shamshuri Mohamad, 55, guilty of murdering the 40-year-old woman at a house in Taman Bertam Perdana, Melaka, between 10am and 1pm on June 4, 2018, the New Straits Times reported.
The judge ruled that the defence had failed to prove Shamshuri's innocence and ordered the sentence to be calculated from the date of his arrest.
He said he had considered submissions by the defence, aggravating factors presented by the prosecution, and a victim impact statement from the victim's husband, who is now raising their two children alone.
The judge also noted that Shamshuri was exempted from caning as he was over 50 years old.
Shamshuri was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years, with a mandatory 12 strokes of the cane if not sentenced to death.
His lawyer, Sangeet Kaur Deo, had asked for a minimum custodial sentence without whipping due to his client's chronic health conditions and the fact that he had voluntarily surrendered to police on the day of the incident.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Firdaus Saleh pushed for the death penalty, citing the violent nature of the crime and its long-lasting impact, and noted that the trial began in September 2020 with testimony from 21 prosecution witnesses and one defence witness, the accused himself.
