A Malaysian High Court sitting in Kuala Lumpur has sentenced a Nigerian man to death by hanging for the murder of his four-year-old step-grandson.
The court, on Thursday, found Ibekwe Emeka Augustine, 48, guilty of killing the child by throwing him from the third floor of an apartment in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, in November 2020.
Delivering judgment, Justice K. Muniandy said the prosecution successfully proved its case beyond reasonable doubt after a careful review of all the evidence presented during the trial.
Augustine was charged with causing the child’s death between 7:45 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. on November 29, 2020, an offence punishable under Section 302 of Malaysia’s Penal Code, which carries a mandatory death sentence or, in some cases, a prison term of 30 to 40 years with a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane.
In addition to the death sentence, the court also convicted Augustine on four other criminal charges, sentencing him to five years’ imprisonment, to run concurrently.
The additional offences included attempted murder of his seven-year-old biological son, causing grievous bodily harm to his wife, attempted suicide, and sexual assault of his stepdaughter. All the crimes were said to have occurred at the same apartment, on the same day and within the same timeframe as the murder.
The charge of attempted murder of his son was brought under Section 307 of the Penal Code, which attracts a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine. Meanwhile, the charge relating to grievous harm against his wife was filed under Sections 325 and 326A, offences that carry a penalty of up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine.
The case has drawn widespread attention due to the severity of the crimes and the harsh penalty imposed by the Malaysian judicial system.
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