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[2011] 7 MLJ A B C D E F G Public Prosecutor v Muhammad Rasid bin Hashim (Abang Iskandar J) 855 went to the Police Station at Rawang to lodge a report and were later informed that Siti Zawiah had died shortly after arrival at the said hospital. [6] So, what had happened? And who could have caused and brought this untimely death to Siti Zawiah, in this gruesome and tragic manner? The prosecution believed that after due investigations, they had the answers to those questions. Based on those answers, the prosecution had filed in this court, a charge (‘P2’) for the offence of murder under s 300 of the Penal Code, against one man by the name of Muhammad Rasid bin Hashim (‘the accused’) and in the course of proceedings, at the prosecution’s stage, the prosecution had filed a further charge (‘P11’) for the offence of rape under s 376 of the Penal Code against the accused. For ease of reference, the charges as they had appeared in P2 and P11 are hereby reproduced in their original language respectively, as follows: [7] The ‘murder charge’ marked as P2 and read:. Bahawa kamu pada 9 Mac 2006 di antara jam 3 petang hingga 6.20 petang, di No. 02-04, Blok Kekwa, Apartment Dahlia, Jalan 5/2 Bandar Country Homes, Rawang di dalam daerah Gombak, di dalam Negeri Selangor Darul Ehsan, telah melakukan bunuh dengan menyebabkan kematikan terhadap Siti Zawiah binti Sudin (KPT: 830412-03-5414) dan oleh yang demikian kamu telah melakukan satu kesalahan yang boleh dihukum di bawah s 302 Kanun Keseksaan [8] The ‘rape charge’ marked as P11 had read: Bahawa kamu pada 9 Mac 2006 jam 3 petang hingga 6.20 petang di No. 02-04, Blok Kekwa, Apartment Dahlia, Jalan 5/2 bandar Country Homes, Rawang di dalam Daerah Gombak, di dalam negeri Selangor Darul Ehsan, telah merogol Siti Zawiah binti Sudin (KPT: 830412-03- 5414) dan oleh yang demikian kamu telah melakukan satu kesalahan yang boleh dihukum di bawah seksyen 376 Kanun Keseksaan. THE CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS OF OFFENCES UNDER SS 300 AND 376 OF THE PENAL CODE H I [9] ‘Murder’, simply stated, is an act of causing another person’s death with illegal intent. The essential legal ingredient that requires to be proved, in order to prove murder under s 300 of the Penal Code, may be stated as follows, namely that the actus reus was done by the accused person: (i) with the intention of causing death; (ii) with the intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely to cause death to the person to whom the harm is caused; (iii) with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death; (iv) with the knowledge that the act is so imminently

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MUHAMAD RASID BIN HASHIM

CASE BRIEF

Jurisdiction

Malaysia

Nationalities

Malaysian

Case Title: Muhamad Rasid bin Hashim (Federal Court Criminal Appeal No. 05-51-04/2012(B))

Age at Offence: 29

Age Group at Offence: Adult (18 to 59)

Gender: Male

Religious Group at Offence: Islam

Jurisdiction - Geolocation

Latitude: 4.2105

Longitude: 101.9758

Jurisdiction - Geolocation (linked CASE BRIEF): Malaysia

Contributing TRP Partner

Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (Malaysia)

Latest Country's Death Penalty Status

Retentionist

Case Current Status: Closed: Commuted

Year when sentenced to Death Row: 2000s: 2009

Nature of Offences for Death Penalty

Other
Murder: Single Victim

Expert Evidence

Forensic/Medical evidence: Autopsy/Post mortem
Forensic/Medical evidence: DNA/Serology/Biology
Forensic/Medical evidence: Trace evidence (hair, fibers, paint, glass etc)

Case Background (300 words max): Muhammad Rasid bin Hashim was charged for having committed the offences of rape and murder of Siti Zawiah bt Sudin on 9 March 2006. The deceased, who was staying for about a week with her two friends, was home alone on 9 March 2006 after her two friends had left for their respective workplaces in the morning. When the two friends finally entered their apartment and managed to open the locked bedroom they saw the deceased writhing in pain on the floor in the room. Although the deceased was rushed to the hospital, she died shortly after arrival at the hospital. An autopsy performed on the deceased’s body revealed that the deceased had suffered multiple injuries and both or either of two injuries could have caused her death. The pathologist who carried out the post-mortem believed that either the head injury or the strangulation could have caused the death of the deceased. The pathologist also opined that the injuries were not self-inflicted and that they were most likely sustained while the deceased was acting in self-defence while thwarting frontal assaults on her.

The applicant was arrested on 29 March 2006 and was charged with one count of murder and rape under s302 and s376 of the Penal Code respectively. The applicant was tried before the High Court of Kuala Lumpur and was found guilty under s302 of the Penal Code and sentenced to mandatory death. He was also convicted and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment from the date of arrest and ordered to be whipped five times for raping Siti Zawiah binti Sudin, an offence punishable under s 376 of the Penal Code.

His appeals to the Court of Appeal on 13 March 2012 and the Federal Court on 15 April 2013 were unsuccessful. Consequently, the conviction was upheld, and the mandatory death sentence was affirmed.

The Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of The Federal Court) Act 2023 was introduced and took effect on 12 September 2023 to confer the Federal Court the jurisdiction to undertake the resentencing of the prisoners who have been sentenced to death or being imprisoned for natural life. An application for resentencing was filed on behalf of Muhammad Rasid bin Hashim in the Federal Court.

The Applicant’s death sentence was commuted in this application, and he was sentenced to 38 years of imprisonment from the date of arrest and 12 strokes of whipping.

Defence Arguments (200 words max.): At the High Court of Kuala Lumpur, the defence argued that since there were no eyewitnesses, the prosecution evidence was circumstantial. Due to overwhelming forensic evidence, the defence was rejected.

At the Court of Appeal, by his notice of appeal of 16 September 2009, the applicant appealed in respect of the conviction and sentence under s 302. of the Penal Code. The grounds set out in the petition of appeal may be summarised as follows: (a) The learned judge erred in convicting the appellant for the offence of murder under s 300 when at the most the evidence shows an offence under s 304; (b) The learned judge erred when he failed to give sufficient consideration to the unsworn statement of the appellant; (c) The learned judge erred when he failed to appreciate there was a break in the chain of evidence; (d) The learned judge erred when he failed to apply s 114(g) of the Evidence Act 1950on the prosecution; (e) The learned judge erred when he failed to give sufficient consideration to aspects favouring the defence.

The Court of Appeal found neither error nor reason to disagree with the reasoning of and the conclusion arrived at by the learned trial judge, leading to the conclusion that the rebuttal or explanation by the appellant in his defence did not raise a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and affirmed the conviction and sentence by the High Court.

On 13 February 2024, in his application, the Federal Court took into account amongst others, the individualised mitigating circumstances of the applicant which include the fact that the applicant suffers a tremendous amount of psychological anguish as he awaits his execution for more than 17 years. The applicant witnessed the execution of three of his peers convicted of the same offences with the executions occurring just a few cells away from his own.

Judgement with Headnotes (200 words max): On 15 November 2006, the High Court of Kuala Lumpur convicted Muhammad Rasid bin Hashim under s302 of the Penal Code and sentenced him to mandatory death.

On 15 November 2006, the High Court of Kuala Lumpur convicted Muhammad Rasid bin Hashim under s302 of the Penal Code and sentenced him to mandatory death.

On 1 June 2012, the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal and affirmed the conviction and sentence by the High Court.

In the resentencing application, The Federal Court accepts the principle that the court shall consider all mitigating circumstances regarding the offence and the applicant that might earn the applicant the court’s compassion.

Legal Representation Received

Pre-trial: Unknown
Trial: Unknown
Appeal: Unknown
Second Appeal: Unknown

Legislation Related to the Offence(s): Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder (carries the death penalty)

Section 376 of the Penal Code for rape

Case Brief Entry Status: Complete

Language of Case Materials

English
Malay

Is the case brief featured?: No

Primary Documents

Public_Prosecutor_v_Muhammad_Rasid_bin_Hashim.pdf
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MUHAMAD RASID BIN HASHIM

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