Malaysia school stabbing: Teen, 14, charged with murder of schoolmate
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A teacher at SMK Bandar Utama 4 using a metal detector to screen students before they enter the school, in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, on Oct 16.
PHOTO: SHARIL AZRI
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PETALING JAYA - A 14-year-old male student was charged in the Petaling Jaya Magistrate’s Court on Oct 22 with the murder of a teenager at a school in Selangor.
The accused nodded in understanding after the charge was read to him before Magistrate Amira Sariaty Zainal.
He is accused of murdering a 16-year-old female student in the school’s female toilet
The incident allegedly occurred between 9.20am and 9.35am on that day.
The charge was made under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
The accused stood beside his parents and remained silent when the charge was read in Mandarin.
No plea was recorded, as murder cases fall under the High Court’s jurisdiction.
The court proceedings were held behind closed doors, with only the teenager’s family permitted in the courtroom, as the case involves a juvenile.
This is in line with the Child Act 2001 as the case involves a minor.
The court set the case for mention on Nov 21.
Yap Shing Xuen was stabbed to death on Oct 14 at SMK Bandar Utama 4.
A suspect was arrested, and two knives and a kerambit were seized.
Meanwhile, the suspect will undergo psychiatric evaluation at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta in Perak.
Magistrate Amira granted the application made by the teenager’s lawyer, Mr Anwar Ezzad Zainal, under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Section 342 allows an accused suspected of being of unsound mind to be sent to a gazetted hospital to assess his fitness to stand trial.
The matter was confirmed by lawyer Kitson Foong, who appeared as amicus curiae (friend of the court) during the closed-door proceedings.
The boy cannot be named as he is a juvenile, and the media was barred from the courtroom.
Outside the courtroom, Mr Foong said the application was in the best interests of the accused.
He said it ensures reasonable arrangements to protect him from self-harm and to safeguard others during detention.
“The psychiatric evaluation must also address his fitness to plead. It must assess whether he can enter a plea and understand the nature of the proceedings,” said Mr Foong.
“What is most important is his state of mind before and during the offence,” he added. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
