THE Shah Alam High Court today sentenced an unemployed man to death for the murder of an 85-year-old woman whom he also raped and sodomised.

Judge Ab Karim Ab Rahman handed down the verdict to K. Satiaraj, 30, after finding the defence failed to raise a reasonable doubt at the end of the prosecution case.

In his judgment, Karim said the accused had the intention of causing injury to the deceased and committed the act in a conscious state.

“Based on the testimonies, the accused did not face any difficulties in remembering and recounting the incident,” he said.

“The accused broke into the deceased’s house to steal before tying her hands and taping her mouth so that she could not scream.

“The accused also knew his intention of tying her hands. He also pleaded guilty to the offence of raping and sodomising the victim.”

Karim said the act of the accused stealing a gold chain after raping and sodomising the woman clearly showed that he was aware.

“After leaving the deceased’s house, the accused consciously asked for help from his friend (N. Hari Krishnan was the eighth prosecution witness to pawn the chain because the former did not have an identity card).

Satiaraj was found guilty of having caused the death of the elderly woman at a house in Jalan Tasik Tambahan 2, Ampang, between 11.40am and 1pm on September 19.

The charge under section 302 of the penal code provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

Previously, Satiaraj was sentenced to 13 years in jail and ordered to be given five strokes of rotan after pleading guilty to raping and sodomising the woman.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohammed Heikal Ismail appeared for the prosecution while lawyer Saladin Mohd Yasin represented the accused.

Nineteen prosecution witnesses and one defence witness as well as the accused himself were called to testify in the trial conducted since December 2 last year. – Bernama, August 26, 2022.