Zulfarhan murder case a rare, heinous crime – Judge

PUTRAJAYA - The Court of Appeal here on Tuesday described the murder of Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) student Naval Cadet Officer Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain, seven years ago, as an exceptionally rare heinous crime.

A panel of three judges led by Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail said this while delivering the 232-paragraph judgement over more than three hours starting at 9.10am.

She said that despite the six accused witnessing the victim writhing in pain, they remained indifferent, ignored the situation and continued pressing the iron.

According to her, the act was carried out over almost the entire body of the victim, including the genital area (except for the face), resulting in 90 burn marks.

“The actions of the accused were extremely cruel as the victim's legs and hands were tied and before being ironed all over his body, he had been beaten by many.

“Although the six accused heard the victim screaming several times, they turned a deaf ear and continued to press the iron.

“The actions of five out of the six accused showed malicious intent, cruelty, inhumanity and a lack of compassion towards their fellow student,” she said.

She added that all the accused had hidden the victim to prevent their crime from being known to the authorities.

She mentioned that they did not take the victim to Serdang Hospital for treatment despite being advised to do so by Dr Azfar Hussin of Klinik As-Salam Bandar Baru Bangi.

According to her, they blamed Zulfarhan for the incident, while in reality, all these problems stemmed from the actions of the accused.

Hadhariah said the court agreed with the prosecution that the manner of the murder was not only shocking to the ‘judicial conscience’ but also to society.

“This case is one of the rarest of the rare.

“It involves a heinous crime that is extremely dangerous to society, and such cruel acts must be stopped,” she said, presiding alongside Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Azmi Ariffin.