AL Jazeera has a documentary out on Malaysia and the death penalty as the government moves to abolish the mandatory capital punishment for 11 offences.

Malaysia: On Death Row jumps right into the highly charged debate over the execution of convicts, from the perspective of the families of both the victims of murder and the murderers.

The half-hour documentary which aired at 6.30am today shows the grief suffered by the relatives of murder victims Sosilawati Lawiya and Steven Wong.

In 2010, the charred remains of Sosilawati and three others were found on a chicken farm after they were reported missing.

The police later confirmed that they were beaten to death before their bodies were burnt and the ashes thrown into a river in Morib. 

Former lawyer N Pathmanaban and two farmhands were sentenced to death for the crimes.

“The government should feel what we feel,” Sosilawati’s eldest daughter, Rita tells the interviewer on 101 East.

“When these murderers killed my mother, did they think that she had six children waiting for her?” 

On the other side, there are death row inmates such as T. Adiswaran who was convicted on circumstantial evidence in 2004.

During the trial witnesses said they saw a body in Adiswaran’s workshop which led to his conviction. 

The documentary can be viewed on www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/. – July 5, 2019.