KUALA LUMPUR: The late National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM) cadet officer Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain screamed when a steam iron was pressed on his body, the High Court heard today.
The fifth accused Mohamad Shobirin Sabri said this during cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Julia Ibrahim.
According to him, Zulfarhan cried out loudly saying ‘Please do not do it again’, when he placed the iron, knowing all along it was hot.
Julia: Do you agree that the steam iron was hot as it produced steam?
Mohamad Sobirin: I agree.
Julia: Do you agree that your action (pressing the iron on someone) was wrong?
Mohamad Sobirin: I agree.
Julia: Do you agree that you cannot use a steam iron to get someone to make a confession?
Mohamad Sobirin: I agree.
He revealed that he had pressed the iron’s nozzle once on Zulfarhan’s leg during the ‘interrogation’ on May 25, 2017.
Mohamad Shobirin, together with five other cadets allegedly tortured Zulfarhan by using the steam iron to get him to confess that he stole a laptop.
The 23-year-old former UPNM cadet said he pressed the iron on Zulfarhan spontaneously after someone passed it to him.
“I went to Room 4-10 at about 4.30am and saw several individuals questioning Zulfarhan about the stolen laptop.
“As I was about to exit the room, an unknown individual passed me the iron and asked me to use it on Zulfarhan. I only pressed it once on his leg,” he said when questioned by his lawyer Datuk Hazman Ahmad.
The other accused had also admitted they had pressed the steam iron on Zulfarhan’s body.
Earlier, the sixth prosecution witness, Serdang Hospital forensic specialist Dr Salmah Arshad, 37, testified that the postmortem conducted on Zulfarhan found 90 scald injuries on his body, including two on the buttocks and penis.
She said the scald marks, which were classified as stage one, stage two and stage three categories, were located from the neck to feet, including the shoulders, arms, chest, stomach, ribs, shoulder blade, thighs and ankles.
Mohamad Shobirin together with Akmal Zuhairi, Muhammad Azamuddin, Muhammad Najib Mohd Razi, and Muhammad Afif are jointly charged with murdering Zulfarhan; while Abodul Hakeem Mohd Ali is charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
All six face the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
The six and 13 other students, all aged 23, also pleaded not guilty to voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Zulfarhan with the intention of extracting a confession from Zulfarhan for allegedly stealing a laptop.
The offence was allegedly committed at room 04-10 Jebat Hostel Block, UPNM, between 2.30am and 5.30am on May 21 and in the same room between 1.30am and 4.30am on May 22.
Zulfarhan was found with burn marks and bruises in an apartment in Serdang at about 8pm on June 1, 2017, and was pronounced dead at about 10pm at the Serdang Hospital.
The trial continues on Feb 26 before High Court judge Datuk Azman Abdullah.