Murder in tahfiz school fire case transferred to High Court

KUALA LUMPUR: The Magistrate's Court yesterday transferred to the High Court, the case of two 16-year-old boys charged with the murder of 21 students and two teachers of Pusat Tahfiz Darul Ittifaqiyah last September by allegedly setting fire to the religious residential school.

Magistrate Siti Radziah Kamarudin made the decision after the case was mentioned in court where she allowed the application by deputy public prosecutors Nordin Ismail and Nurakmal Farhan Aziz under Section 177A of the Criminal Procedure Code to transfer the case to the High Court.

However, no date was set for case mention at the High Court.

The two teenagers are accused of murdering the 23 individuals between 4.15am and 6.45am on Sept 14, 2017 at Pusat Tahfiz Darul Ittifaqiyah, Jalan Keramat Hujung, Kampung Datuk Keramat, here.

The two, represented by lawyers Haijan Omar and Joanne Chua, were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34, which provides for the mandatory death sentence, upon conviction.

Meanwhile, at the Court for Children, one of the two teenagers who was charged with ingesting cannabis was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by magistrate Zilfinaz Abbas.

The teenager had allegedly committed the offence at the washroom of the D7 office, Criminal Investigation Department, Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters, here, at 11.35am on Sept 16, 2017.

In the tragic incident about 5.15am last Sept 14, 23 occupants of the tahfiz school perished in the fire when they were trapped in their hostel on the third floor of the building. - Bernama