A teacher at a religious primary school in Arau, Perlis was sentenced to 18 years’ jail for causing the death of a Year One pupil, Saiful Syazani Saiful Sopfidee, last year.

Judicial commissioner Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab passed the sentence on Hanif Mohd Ali, 28, who admitted commiting the act in the warden’s room of the boys hostel at the Al-Furqan Primary Religious School between 6pm and midnight on March 31, 2011.

He was charged under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code for causing death, which carries a jail term of up to 30 years.

Mohd Zaki in his judgment said, the sentence passed commensurated with the offence committed by the accused, and hoped it would be a lesson to whoever with the power to discipline pupils, to be more careful and not act excessively.

“What should be done must be under the concept of education and not act  inhumanely... must not be reckless and excessive. It should be remembered that the deceased was still young, pampered and small in size,” he said.

Mohd Zaki who imposed the sentence from the date Hanif was detained (April 1, 2011) said, as an educator, the accused needed to be more patient when carrying out his duties.

The accused, who wore a white shirt, grey pants and a skullcap, was seen crying and embracing his friends after the judgment.

Prior to this, Hanif was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which provided for a mandatory death sentence.

The charge was amended to Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code when the court made its decison at the end of the prosecution’s case, on Monday.

The prosecution was handled by deputy public prosecutors Noorin Badaruddin, Najib Zakaria, Nadia Hanim Mohd Tajuddin and Azhar Mokhtar, while the accused was represented by five lawyers, Arif Azami Hussein, Azizul Shariman Mat Yusof, Mohamed Hanipa Maidin, Mohd Fikri Abdul Rahman and Zulmi Sabri.

- Bernama