Killing wife: Indo escapes gallows

Kota Kinabalu: A 39-year-old Indonesian who was sentenced to death for murdering his wife in Keningau escaped the gallows and was instead ordered to serve 20 years jail on a lesser charge of manslaughter.Court of Appeal Justices Dato' Abdul Rahman Sebli, Datuk Kamardin Hashim and Datuk Wira Kamaludin Md Said allowed Agus Suddin's appeal against his conviction and sentence.

The court quashed the conviction under Section 302 of the Penal Code and the death sentence and substituted the conviction to Section 304(a) of the Penal Code.

Agus was ordered to serve the imprisonment from the date of his arrest in 2015.

Agus was on June 5, 2017 sentenced to death by the High Court here after he was found guilty of killing Lina Tagih, 42, also an Indonesian, at 8.45am on May 5, 2015 at the roadside near the workers' quarters of Syarikat Bornion Timber Sdn Bhd in Sook.

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The murder charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code carries the death penalty upon conviction.

Earlier, counsel Farazwin Haxdy submitted among others, that the trial judge erred in law as Agus was convicted without appreciating the defence of grave and sudden provocation by Agus' wife, which was established.

Farazwin submitted a prosecution witness testified that the incident occurred following a fight and another prosecution witness confirmed that the incident occurred as Agus found out that his wife was cheating on him with another man.

Agus personally surrendered at the police station which showed that whatever he had done was never intentional or realised by him due to his loss of self-control due to continuous and cumulative provocation by the wife, said Farazwin.

It was also evidently clear in Agus's defence that he was attacked by his wife with a knife first which was corroborated by another prosecution witness, said Farazwin.

As a result, Agus sustained injuries on his palms.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Sazilee Abdul Khairi submitted that the trial judge was right when ruling that Agus failed to prove the defence of sudden and grave provocation during the incident.

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Ahmad submitted that there was no evidence of provocation that led Agus to lose his self-control because when Agus saw his wife and another man in a room, it was not sufficient to provoke Agus as there was no evidence to show that the wife did anything with the man other than talking.

He applied for the appeal be dismissed and the conviction and sentence by the High Court to be upheld. - Jo Ann Mool

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