MAN CHARGED WITH MURDERING MUM

Magistrate allows request for accused to undergo medical examination

AN unemployed man was charged at the magistrate’s court here yesterday with murdering his mother, whose body was found inside a septic tank, three weeks ago.

Mohammad Firdaus Ismail, 29, nicknamed “Bro Cik”, allegedly murdered Faridah Mat Hashim, 63, at their house in Lot 191 Mukim D, Sungai Burung here, between 6.30am and 8pm on Sept 19.

He was charged before magistrate Nur Fadrina Zulkhairi under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

No bail was granted.

Nur Fadrina set Nov 8 for mention and allowed the accused to be taken to hospital for a medical examination.

Deputy public prosecutor Rais Imran Hamid prosecuted, while the accused was represented by Legal Aid Foundation lawyer Edmund Anthony Hermon.

Earlier, Hermon requested that the court allow the accused to undergo a medical examination after he was found with a patch of blood in his left eye.

His request was supported by Rais Imran.

It was reported that Faridah, who had been missing from home since Sept 19, was found dead in a septic tank behind her house in Kampung Sungai Burung on Sept 23.

Police believed the victim was murdered by her son, who went into hiding soon after.

He was arrested on Sept 25 in front of the district Health Department in Jalan Air Putih here and admitted that he had committed the crime.

He was initially remanded for seven days and had it extended for another week from Tuesday.

Police recently confirmed that the suspect had no history of mental illness.

Checks on mental hospitals and psychiatric centres showed that the suspect’s name was not registered at any of them.

Further checks revealed that the suspect was addicted to sniffing petrol, causing him to hallucinate.