Siblings escape the gallows, sentenced to 33 years in prison for murder of sister's blind husband

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

The three-judged panel led by Court of Appeal judges Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and High Court judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin dismissed the appeal by G.S. 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.

Justice Che Mohd 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, Justice Che Mohd Ruzima said the convictions of the two appellants were unsafe to uphold.

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

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

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

Based on the facts of the case, 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.

Initially, investigations classified the incident as robbery but after the victim died on October 10, 2020, police reclassified the case as murder.

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