Crime & Courts

Dying Zaharif was writhing in pain, says witness

IPOH: A witness told the High Court here today that Muhammad Zaharif Affendi Muhd Zamrie, 17, was in critical condition and writhing in pain after the motorcycle he was riding was hit by a white Perodua Ativa in December.

The prosecution's 12th witness, also a teenage boy, said that after the collision, he saw a man get out of the vehicle, approach the victim, and instruct him to help lift Muhammad Zaharif Affendi.

At the scene, he said, saw the victim lying face down on the road with visible injuries to his thigh and elbow.

"The Ativa driver, who was wearing a white T-shirt and black three-quarter-length trousers, came over to where Zaharif had fallen and angrily shouted at me, 'What are you looking at?! Help me lift him up, I'm a policeman!'.

"I felt scared and shocked after hearing those words.

"After that, a passerby wearing a helmet lifted Zaharif by his legs, while the Ativa driver lifted him by his armpits.

"I tried to help by supporting Zaharif's back, but I only made it to the middle of the road before I let go because I was too frightened by Zaharif's critical condition," he said, reading his written statement before Judge Datuk Bhupindar Singh Gucharan Singh Preet.

On the eighth day of the trial against a senior police officer accused of murdering Muhammad Zaharif Affendi, the witness told the court he saw the Ativa driver and the bystander placed Zaharif at the corner of Jalan Taman Jati 1.

He said he then turned and ran to his mother's Mitsubishi Triton parked along Jalan Pekeliling Meru Indah, where he saw his mother outside the vehicle calling for an ambulance.

"I returned to where Zaharif had been laid on the corner of Jalan Taman Jati 1 to see what was happening.

"By then, a crowd had gathered, including schoolchildren and other onlookers.

"I saw a man in a red shirt embracing Zaharif, saying, 'Zaharif, it's your father here'.

"I saw Zaharif writhing from side to side in pain and trying to sit up, but the man held him down.

"I also saw a nurse in uniform attempting to calm Zaharif," he said.

During cross-examination by Deputy Public Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz, the witness said he recognised the man as Zaharif's father, as he often visited his restaurant but did not know the nurse.

Asked if the Ativa driver showed any ID when identifying himself as police, the witness replied that the man did not display any identification.

Mohd Nazri Abdul Razak, 45, was charged with murdering Muhammad Zaharif Affendi at Jalan Taman Jati 1, near SMK Jati, between 11.45am and 12.32pm on Dec 15, 2023.

The senior police officer, a deputy superintendent, was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries a penalty of either death or imprisonment of 30 to 40 years, with a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane if convicted.

Most Popular
Related Article
Says Stories