Appeals court commutes siblings' death penalty to 33 years' jail over murder

A woman and her younger brother escaped the death penalty after the Court of Appeal today commuted the death sentence imposed on them to 33 years’ prison each for the murder of her blind husband about four years ago.

The three-person panel comprising Court of Appeal judges Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, and High Court judge Noorin Badaruddin dismissed the appeal by GS Angela Dewi and Vijaya to overturn their murder conviction.

However, the court allowed their appeal to have the death penalty imposed by the High Court commuted to life imprisonment.

Che Ruzima ordered Angela Dewi, 48, and Vijaya, 46 to begin their prison sentences from the dates of their arrest on Oct 10, 2020, and Oct 17, 2020, respectively.

The court also ordered Vijaya to be given 12 strokes of the cane.

In delivering the court’s decision, Che Ruzima said after considering the records of appeal and the witnesses’ testimonies, the court found that the appellants’ appeal against their convictions was without merit.

Angela Dewi and Vijaya, who ran an eatery together, were charged with the murder of R Devarajoo, 59, at a house in Kampung Baru Sungai Chua, Kajang, Selangor between noon and 1pm on Oct 1, 2020.

On Sept 21, last year, they were found guilty of the offence and sentenced to death by the High Court.

The granddaughter of the deceased found the victim lying on a sofa in the veranda area of the house in a pool of blood and started to scream.

The deceased’s second wife, married to him under customary rites, also arrived and saw him covered in blood and the deceased was subsequently transported to the hospital by ambulance.

On Oct 1, 2020, Angela Dewi, reported to the police that a robbery had occurred and that a gold necklace belonging to the deceased was missing.

The case was initially investigated as a robbery but was reclassified as murder when the victim died on Oct 10, 2020.

Following further investigations, police arrested both Angela Dewi and Vijaya and the latter subsequently led police to a storage room where they discovered a hammer and a gold necklace.

Lawyers M Manoharan, B Sarathabala and P Subramaniam represented Angela Dewi and Vijaya while deputy public prosecutor Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi appeared for the prosecution.

- Bernama

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