KUALA LUMPUR: Three of the accused charged with injuring Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) cadet marine officer Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain denied having done so to get the deceased to confess to having stolen a friend’s laptop.
Muhammad Hasif Ismail, Muhammad Adib Iman Fuad Adi Sany and Mohamad Syazwan Musa, all aged 24, were making their defence before High Court judge Datuk Azman Abdullah here yesterday.
Hasif, the seventh accused, said he and his friends took Zulfarhan to Klinik Al-Salam in Bangi on May 26, 2017, for treatment because they cared for him.
“I helped to buy food for him during his few days stay in my room,” he said, during an examination-in-chief by lawyer A.G. Kalidas in the defence trial of 18 UPNM students charged with murdering and injuring Zulfarhan.
However, when cross-examined by deputy public prosecutor Julia Ibrahim, Hasif denied buying food for Zulfarhan because the deceased was then in great pain and could not leave the room.
The ninth accused, Muhammad Adib Iman, represented by lawyer Azizul Shariman, said on the day of the incident, he went to room 03-05 (one of the areas where the incident took place) to meet Syazwan and was there for about a minute to get some washing soda.
He denied having taken turns to hurt Zulfarhan to get the latter’s confession about the missing laptop and that he knew about it only when he and the others were arrested by police.
Syazwan, who is the 10th accused, denied that he took turns to hit Zulfarhan.
On July 31, the High Court here ordered 18 UPNM students to enter their defence on charges of murdering, injuring and abetting the murder of Zulfarhan.
Five of the accused — Muhammad Akmal, Muhammad Azamuddin, Muhammad Najib Mohd Razi, Muhammad Afif and Mohamad Shobirin Sabri are charged with murder — while Abdoul Hakeem Mohd Ali is charged with abetting the murder of Zulfarhan.
They allegedly committed the offence at room 04-10 of the Jebat hostel building in UPNM between 4.45am and 5.45am on May 22, 2017.
The charges against the accused were made under Section 302 and 109 of the Penal Code, which carry the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
The six, along with 12 others, were also ordered to enter their defence on charges of injuring the victim.
The offence was allegedly committed at room 03-05, of the Jebat hostel building in UPNM, between 2.30am and 5.30am on May 21, 2017.