JOHOR BAHRU: The High Court has fixed Dec 11 to deliver its verdict on a maid and her husband who are accused of murdering their employer three years ago.
Judge Datuk Abu Bakar Katar made the decision after Indonesian nationals Ekalia and Bartolomeus Fransceda, both 23 years old, changed their pleas to guilty today.
The accused are jointly charged with the murder of 73-year-old Lau Yen Na at her home in Palm Resort, Senai, Kulai, around 2pm on March 17, 2019.
They face charges under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty or a minimum of 30 years to a maximum of 40 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane.
Earlier, closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident was shown during the proceedings, causing the victim's family members to be unable to contain their emotions.
According to the case facts based on investigations and CCTV analysis at the scene, the first accused, Bartolomeus, and the second, Ekalia, killed the victim using a small hoe with two sharp ends.
The accused struck the victim on the head with the small pickaxe while she was resting before taking the victim's Toyota Alphard and mobile phone to Kuala Lumpur to meet friends and look for new jobs.
Both accused were later arrested at a restaurant in Damansara before the pathology analysis revealed that the cause of the victim's death was multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Syafiq Mohd Ghazali led the prosecution, while the two accused were represented by lawyers Ooi Pen Lyn and S Selvi.
During her submission, Pen Lyn requested the court to impose a 30-year prison sentence on both accused, considering them as victims of human trafficking deceived by unregistered employment agents.
"They were promised jobs in Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur, but when there were no jobs as promised, they wanted to return to Indonesia.
"However, the agency did not allow them to return and threatened them to pay compensation if they were stubborn, before being sent to work as gardeners and maids at the residence of an elderly person.
"Both accused stated that they were not only mentally and physically abused by the elderly person but were also enslaved by not being given food except being directed to stay in a hut outside of the house.
"Therefore, I request the court to impose a minimum 30-year prison sentence to allow them to return to Indonesia with their families, especially since they have repented, remorseful, and regretful for their actions," she said.
However, the prosecution argued that the reasons for being abused and enslaved were not a licence for both accused to take the law into their own hands, let alone commit murder brutally.
"I request the court to give a punitive sentence as a lesson to society not to take the law into their own hands.
"Even though Section 302 of the Penal Code has been amended by imposing a prison sentence, it is still within the court's discretion to impose the death penalty based on the case and situation," he said.