Apex court awards 20 years' jail term to barber

Kuala Lumpur, Nov 11 (PTI) Upholding a Court of
Appeal's verdict, Malaysia's apex court has said that a
barber, who killed his Indian friend in a gruesome manner,
could be sentenced to 20 years of jail.

The decision means that a trial judge can impose the
severest punishment provided for, even if the accused pleads
guilty to the charge which usually results in a lower
sentence, local media reports said here on Wednesday.
The prosecution only needs to show the aggravating
circumstances to convince the court that the accused must pay
for his crime.
The ruling, handed yesterday, which dismissed V
Karthiselvam's appeal against sentence is a precedent and it
also affirmed the Court of Appeal's judgment on the quantum of
punishment, the report said.
Karthiselvam, 30, appealed to the Federal Court
against the 20-year jail term imposed by the Court of Appeal
last year.
He was initially charged with the murder of an Indian
M Venkatachalam at a hair dressing salon in Johor Baru in
southern Malaysia in March 2005.
Venkatachalam was murdered with a grinding stone.
Later, prosecution amended the charge to culpable
homicide not amounting to murder and Karthiselvam pleaded
guilty.

The High Court sentenced him to 13 years' jail.
The public prosecutor appealed to the Court of Appeal
which enhanced the sentence to 20 years.
"This was the first time the apex court had accepted
the argument that the decision of the Court of Appeal to
enhance punishment was good," Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad
Bache told reporters.
Earlier, he told the court that the death was caused
in a brutal manner as Karthiselvam used a grinding stone to
hit the head of the sleeping Venkatachalam.
"This act of cruelty was done because the appellant
(Karthiselvam) was afraid that the victim would discover the
theft of money and hand phone," he said.
Federal Court judge Richard Malanjum, who chaired a
three-man bench, held that the Court of Appeal had considered
the exceptional nature of the case and he would not disturb
the sentence imposed.
The Court of Appeal in its judgment had said that
the 13-year jail term imposed by the High Court was manifestly
inadequate, especially considering the gruesome way the death
was caused. PTI JB
SDE