GALLOWS FOR MOTHER OF THREE
Woman found guilty of trafficking 400g of drugs
A40-YEAR-OLD Kenyan woman was sentenced to death by the High Court after she was found guilty of trafficking in about 400 g of four years ago.
Rose Achieng Ojala had stuffed three capsules of the drug into her vagina and swallowed another 68 capsules.
She was charged with trafficking in the drug at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport after arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Nov 30, 2013.
Ojala stood motionless when High Court judge Wong Teck Meng meted out the sentence yesterday.
The mother of three, who suffered from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), had fainted before the proceedings and had to be taken into the court room in a wheelchair.
Ojala was stopped by an Immigration officer as she was behaving suspiciously during the regular luggage inspection.
Three capsules of methamphetamine weighing more than 20g were found in Ojala’s underwear. She admitted that her boyfriend had stuffed the capsules into her vagina before she boarded the flight.
The woman, who claimed that she was pregnant, was later taken to the Serdang Hospital, where an x-ray examination revealed that she had swallowed 68 capsules of the drug weighing more than 380gm.
In convicting Ojala, Wong said the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
“You are found guilty and there is no other punishment under Section 39(B) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1962 except the death sentence,” he said.
Ojala was also sentenced to three years’ jail for possessing 20.7g of methamphetamine in her underwear.
Counsel Suzanawati Ismail, in mitigation, said her client was a single mother and had three children aged between 4 and 15.
Deputy public prosecutor Suhana Ahmad prosecuted.