Ex-lorry attendant who raped, sodomised, murdered elderly woman to hang

K Sathiaraj, who is serving a 13-year jail term for raping and assaulting an elderly woman, has seen his appeal from conviction for her murder dismissed. (Bernama pic)

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has maintained the death penalty imposed on a former lorry attendant for the murder of an 85-year-old grandmother whom he also raped and sodomised in her flat five years ago.

A three-member bench chaired by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail said there was no merit in 31-year-old K Sathiaraj’s appeal.

“The conviction is safe and this is an appropriate case for the death sentence imposed by the High Court to be upheld,” said Hadhariah, who sat with Justice Azman Abdullah and Justice SM Komathy Suppiah.

The death penalty was pronounced on Aug 26, 2022, after the High Court in Shah Alam ruled that Sathiaraj had failed to raise a reasonable doubt to the prosecution’s case.

Justice Ab Karim Ab Rahman said the accused was fully aware of his actions and had intended to cause injury to the deceased and committed the act in a conscious state.

“The accused did not face any difficulties remembering and recounting the incident. The accused broke into the deceased’s house to rob her before tying her hands and taping her mouth so that she could not scream.

“The accused also knew his intention for tying her hands. He also pleaded guilty to the offence of raping and sodomising the victim,” the High Court judge said.

According to the facts of the case, Sathiaraj sexually assaulted the elderly woman prior to stealing a gold chain.

After fleeing from her home, he consciously sought help from his friend, N Hari Krishnan, to pawn the chain because he did not have an identity card.

As a result, the defence of intoxication, raised by Sathiaraj’s lawyers, was dismissed.

Sathiaraj, who had a previous conviction for drug abuse, committed the offence on the woman at a flat at Jalan Tasik Tambahan 2, Ampang, between 11.40am and 1pm on Sept 19, 2019.

The post-mortem report revealed that the victim died of suffocation.

Sathiaraj was arrested at his sister’s home in Puchong, Selangor, about a month later after police found his fingerprints at the crime scene.

He was sentenced by the Ampang magistrates’ court to 13 years’ jail and six strokes of the rotan after pleading guilty to raping and sodomising his victim.

Earlier today, court-assigned counsel Hasshahari Johari submitted that the trial judge had failed to consider the defence of insanity raised during the proceedings.

He also urged the bench to substitute the mandatory death sentence with a jail term.

Deputy public prosecutor Fairuz Johari pointed out that a doctor had prepared a report that Sathiaraj was fit to stand trial.

“The defence of insanity was not raised in the trial. We urge this court to maintain the sentence based on the facts of the case,” he added.