The mother of the Batumalai brothers, Paravathy Arunasalam, has pleaded to the government to spare her two children, who are due to be hanged at dawn tomorrow.

With tears in her eyes, the 66-year-old widow said the government should reform them instead.

"If my children had done something wrong, the government must reform them and lead them to the right path, not hang them.

"I hope the government will pardon my sons, so they can come home," Paravathy told reporters through Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto, who acted as her translator.

They were among the crowd that was building up outside the Kajang Prison complex for a candlelight vigil held for the two brothers, Rames and Suthar Batumalai, who are to be executed for murder.

The group had been gathering since around 8pm, and held up candles and placards opposing the death penalty. Some 60 people have gathered here by its peak at around 10pm.

The brothers, aged 45 and 40, were sentenced to death in April 2010, for a murder committed in Feb 2006. Both have maintained their innocence, claiming during their trial that they had merely intervened to stop others from attacking the deceased.

Rames and Suthar's execution was halted on Feb 24, after their mother Paravathy petitioned the Negeri Sembilan Yang di-Pertuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, pleading for the ruler to commute the sentence or replace it with a life sentence (20 years).

The brothers' lawyer had also sent a petition to the deputy director of the Kajang Prison, and both the petitions were acknowledged by the prison and the Negeri Sembilan state government.

No response to the petitions

Their sister, Shanu Batumalai, 44, said the family has yet to receive any response to their petitions. Much to their dismay, they instead received a letter about 8.30pm yesterday about the impending execution.

This was despite the latest petition having included a plea by the deceased’s wife for the two brothers’ sentence to be commuted.

Shanu lamented that despite her brothers having already spent 12 years in prison, they were still going to be executed in the end. She opined that the duo should be released instead, especially in view of the calls by the deceased’s wife to spare them.

“If they had killed one, the government is going to kill two. How is that right?” she told Malaysiakini outside the prison complex.

The gathering outside the prison complex continued relatively quietly, with the crowd chatting among themselves and slowly dispersing until midnight, when the Batumalai family were among the last to leave.