21-07-2025
Indian national gets 35 years' jail, whipping for murdering countryman
The Court of Appeal reduced K Alagesan's sentence to 35 years in prison and 12 strokes of the rotan for murdering a man at a home in Petaling Jaya five years ago.
PUTRAJAYA : An Indian national who pleaded guilty in the High Court to killing a countryman at an old folks home nearly five years ago had his jail term and whipping reduced by the Court of Appeal today.
K Alagesan, 33, was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment for the murder of Sugan Ganesan at the home in Petaling Jaya on Sept 9, 2020.
The appellate court also ordered Alagesan to be whipped 12 times, the minimum allowed under the law for murder.
Last year, High Court judge Norsharidah Awang sentenced him to 38 years' jail and ordered him to be whipped 15 times. She also ordered that the sentence commence from Sept 10, 2020.
'The punishment is excessive,' said Justice Azman Abdullah, who led a three-member bench that allowed Alagesan's appeal against the sentence.
Justices Zaini Mazlan and Azmi Ariffin also heard the appeal.
Earlier, lawyer Mohtaruddin Baki submitted that Alagesan had pleaded guilty to the charge at the first instance when the matter came up for trial.
Mohtaruddin, who once served as a Court of Appeal judge, said there should be a discount in the sentence as his client had saved the court and prosecution time and resources.
'Further, the crime was not premeditated,' he said, adding that Alagesan would be serving the productive years of his life behind bars.
Deputy public prosecutor Soleha Noratikah Ismail urged the bench to maintain the sentence as the murder was brutal.
'The accused entered the living room and struck the victim, who was asleep, several times on the head with a hammer,' she said, adding that a clear message must be sent that foreigners must respect local laws.
It is unclear why the accused and deceased were at the home.
The case facts stated that a witness saw the accused committing the act and leaving the room.
The owner of the home then contacted the police, who arrived minutes later and arrested the accused.
A post-mortem showed that the deceased died from blunt trauma to the head.
Since July 2023, judges have been given the discretion to impose a prison sentence or the death penalty for serious offences like murder and drug trafficking.
Those convicted of murder may be jailed for between 30 and 40 years, while male offenders aged below 50 will also receive 12 to 24 strokes of the rotan.
