PUTRAJAYA: A former construction company manager who murdered his Indonesian girlfriend by stabbing her 28 times six years ago was spared the death sentence by the Court of Appeal today.
A three-judge panel chaired by Justice Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail, in a unanimous decision, substituted the death penalty imposed on Sobri Abdul Wahab with a 30-year jail term and 12 strokes of the rotan.
Hadhariah said the Shah Alam High Court did not err in its decision, adding that its conviction against Sobri, 46, was safe.
"There is no merit in Sobri's appeal and his plea of insanity at the time of the incident could not be proven.
"The conviction is upheld but the death sentence is replaced with 30 years' jail and 12 strokes of the rotan," she ruled.
She ordered him to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest on March 10, 2018.
In mitigation, defence counsel K.A Ramu pleaded that his client was insane and was not under medication at the time of the incident.
"He could have fled the country if he was of sound mind after the murder," he said.
Deputy public prosecutor Ng Siew Wee objected to the plea.
"He behaved normally, and he was not medically insane," she said.
On Dec 31, 2021, the Shah Alam High Court sentenced Sobri to death after finding him guilty of the murder.
Judge Datuk Abd Halim Aman, in his judgment, said schizophrenia was not the cause of Sobri's action at the time of the incident.
He said Sobri was aware that he committed the murder.
He was charged with the murder of Gusnima, 38, at an apartment in Section U8, Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam, between 6pm and 8pm on March 10, 2018.
It was reported that prior to the incident, Sobri had gone to her house to ask her to marry him.
