KENINGAU: A 33-year-old Filipino man, Sarani bin Arabin, was charged in the Keningau Court on Wednesday with the murder of a Pakistani trader.
Sarani, who holds a JKM Census Certificate and resides at Jalan Durok, was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty or imprisonment of 30 to 40 years, along with a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane if the death penalty is not imposed.
The charge was read out by Deputy Public Prosecutor Esther Cynthia Jebon before Sessions Court Judge Nur Ashikin Mokhtar.
The court set Nov 24 for mention, pending the completion of chemical and forensic reports.
The accused, who is married with three children and worked as a rubber plantation caretaker, was unrepresented in court.
According to the case facts, the body of the victim, Abdul Hafiz, a 30-year-old Pakistani trader, was discovered on Sept 24 near Kampung Kitung, Jalan Keningau, about 100 metres from the suspect’s home.
Abdul Hafiz was believed to have been murdered on Sept 20, and his death came to light after a police report was lodged by a friend at 2pm on Sept 22.
Police investigations led to the recovery of a blue Redmi mobile phone with a transparent casing, confirmed to belong to the victim.
Further searches in Kampung Meninipir and Kampung Kitung led to the discovery of the victim’s motorcycle, clothing, and a machete in a white sack, along with a freshly dug mound of soil where the victim had been buried.
