PUTRAJAYA: The parents of Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain prostrated to God in gratitude after the Court of Appeal today ordered six former National Defence University (UPNM) cadets to be hung to death for the murder of their son.
Zulkarnain Idros, 59 and wife Hawa Osman, 60, performed the prostration after emerging from a courtroom where they sat for over three hours to hear the decision delivered by a three-member bench led by judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail.
The couple cried tears of joy and clasped their hands as their wishes for the six accused to be sent to the gallows were answered for their heinous actions on their son.
Zulkarnain said he and his wife cried as Hadhariah read out the facts of the case and the bench's decision against the six accused.
"Our son suffered enough when he was tortured cruelly. There were a lot of things that they did and we did not know.
"At last, we heard clearly what they had done to Zulfarhan.
"Both of us cried as the judge read out the facts and we felt that the murder charge could be reinstated.
"The facts broke the arguments of the defence," he said, adding that they will hold a 'kenduri doa selamat'.
Hawa said, "Justice has been served. We are grateful to Allah."
The couple said they were grateful that God answered their prayers and thankful to Malaysians who called for the death penalty to be imposed on the accused.
"Thank you to the deputy public prosecutors who have done so well and successfully proved there was an intention to murder.
"I want to thank the judges for making the right decision to reinstate the murder charge," he said.
However, he said their fight does not end today as they were informed that the accused were planning to appeal the decision at the Federal Court and it would be heard in a few weeks.
Earlier today, the Court of Appeal sentenced the six former cadets to death for the murder of Zulfarhan seven years ago.
The court described the case as the "rarest of the rare".
A three-member bench comprising Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Azmi Ariffin unanimously allowed the prosecution's appeal to reinstate a charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code and impose the death penalty.