PUTRAJAYA: A former police inspector escaped the gallows when the Court of Appeal commuted his death sentence to 33 years in jail for shooting his wife to death, seven years ago.
This was after the three-member bench, chaired by Judge Datuk Ravinthran N. Paramaguru, unanimously set aside the death sentence handed down by the Kuching High Court in 2021 against Sohffian Abu Hassan, for murdering Siti Nadrah Abdullah, by shooting her in the neck.
Other members of the bench were Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Datuk Azmi Ariffin.
The court also ordered the accused to be given 12 strokes of the rotan.
Azmi, in reading the judgment, said the court found mitigating factors in this case that did not justify the death sentence.
"The accused and the deceased were a married couple, and were having serious marital problems that culminated in the murder of his wife.
"Whilst we are mindful that domestic violence cannot be condoned or taken lightly for any reason, we are of the view that capital punishment should be reserved only for the worst kinds of cases.
"We do not think that the present case falls into that category," he said.
According to the facts of the case, Sohffian, who was then based in Belaga, murdered 33-year-old Siti Nadrah, by shooting her in the neck at 3.15pm on May 21, 2017, near Serian, in Sarawak.
The accused had suspected that his wife was having an affair with another man.
He then confronted his wife. A heated argument broke out, and the accused drew out his gun and shot her in the neck. He then ran out, and fled the scene, using a police vehicle.
Sohffian was represented by lawyer C. Meenatchisundaram while deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari appeared for the prosecution.
