Tahfiz principal tells court he was at home when told of fire

KUALA LUMPUR: The principal of the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah religious school told the High Court yesterday that he was at home when he found out that the school building was on fire on Sept 14 last year.

Mohd Zahid Mahmood, 48, said he received a phone call from the deputy warden at 5.30am.

“He called me in panic. He said: ‘The tahfiz (centre) is on fire, ustaz.’ I asked him whether it was big or small, and whether the students were safe.

“The deputy warden broke down. I rushed to the school, about 300m from my house.

“The fire was big and firemen were fighting the blaze.”

Zahid, who was testifying as the 17th witness in the trial of two juveniles charged with the murder of 21 students and two wardens of the school, said this when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Othman Abdullah.

They were charged with committing the offence in Jalan Keramat Hujung in Kampung Datuk Keramat, Wangsa Maju, between 4.15 and 6.45am on Sept 14.

The duo, both 17 now, are represented by counsel Haijan Omar. They face 23 counts under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, and are liable to a mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

However, since the duo are under 18, under Section 97(1) of the Child Act 2001, they cannot be sentenced to death. Instead, if found guilty, they will be held at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Earlier, Zahid told the court that he had founded the school in 2002 with 20 students. At the time of the incident, he had 41 students, including the 21 who were killed on Sept 14.

He said between September last year and January this year, the school received donations of up to RM8 million.

He said a portion of the donations would be distributed to the victims’ families, with the remainder to be used to repair the damage caused by the fire and for two years of operational costs.

Proceedings before judge Datuk Azman Abdullah will continue on July 10.