An ex-shopkeeper’s death sentence for strangling his girlfriend has been commuted to 30 years in prison

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court here today commuted the death penalty of a former shopkeeper to 30 years in prison for strangling his girlfriend with her headscarf almost 16 years ago.

Shahrul Nizam Mohd Shah’s request for review of his death sentence under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023 was granted today by a three-judge panel including Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun. Tuan Mat, Judge Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.

Judge Tengku Maimun, who delivered the court ruling, quashed the death sentence and replaced it with a 30-year prison term.

She ordered Shahrul Nizam to serve the sentence from the date of his arrest on October 8, 2008.

Shahrul Nizam, 51, was found guilty by the Shah Alam High Court in 2010 for the murder of his colleague Nurul Hazira Bharum, 26. He committed the crime after learning that she was marrying another man.

The offense was committed at his rental house in Kampung Gombak in Kuang, Rawang, Selangor between 9am and 10am on October 7, 2008.

His appeals were rejected by the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court in 2012 and 2015 respectively.

In his defense, Shahrul Nizam told the Supreme Court that he and Nurul Hazira, a clerk, planned to commit suicide by drinking poison “like Romeo and Juliet”, claiming that Nurul Hazira first forced him to drink the poison, causing him fainted.

Shahrul Nizam said that when Nurul Hazira woke up, he was already dead and he ran to a neighbor’s house for help. He claimed that Nurul Hazira had confided in him and said that she was not in love with the man who proposed to her and had instead proposed to Shahrul Nizam. However, he wanted her to wait because he had no money.

A post-mortem report revealed that Nurul Hazira died of asphyxiation due to strangulation and no poison was found in her body.

His lawyer Subash Ramasamy requested the court to quash the death sentence and replace it with a 30-year prison term. Deputy Public Prosecutor Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi did not object to the application.