PRESENT POINT POWER

“a case of sexual assault, the assailant would normally hold the victim’s neck” – pleaded the lawyer

Now, why not just hold the arms than choke her at the throat? The motive was to "silence" her after the rape, ie. to kill her off.

Murder of Noor Suzaily Mukhtar: Court confirms gallows for driver;
13 Dec 2006; A. Hafiz Yatim, NST

ABOVE: The smiling without remorse man being led away and BELOW : a violent man has to be restrained by TWO hancuffs. His last resort is to apply for a royal pardon and rightly should be denied

PUTRAJAYA: Murder convict Hanafi Mat Hassan showed no emotion when the Federal Court unanimously dismissed his appeal and upheld his death sentence. Yet, the former Kiara Express bus driver put up a different show when he was led outside the court after the judgment.

ABOVE: Showing his anger at the press photographers, he exercised his "flying kick" and was restrained for a 2nd one (BELOW)

He tried to kick Press photographers. Hanafi, 38, who had both his hands handcuffed to two Prisons Department officers, lunged forward at the photographers and kicked the hand of New Straits Times photographer Muhaizan Yahya who was about to take his picture. Muhaizan lost his balance momentarily but he was not injured. Earlier, when Hanafi arrived in court wearing a grey-checked shirt he tried to kick a Bernama photographer but missed him. The Federal Court, comprising a five-member Bench, rejected Hanafi’s appeal against conviction and sentence.

ABOVE: She took this empty bus on the morning to work and was taken for a ride by this lusty driver (whose wife was expecting at that time) to a loney spot where both crimes were comitted. BELOW, the spot where her naked body was dumped on. Luckily , the security guard saw the body & remembered the bus and the culprit was traced

He was found guilty of murdering Noor Suzaily Mukhtar, 24, (BELOW) a computer engineer, at the Taman Bukit Tinggi construction site near Lorong Pegaga, Taman Chi Liung, Klang, between 8.50am and 9.15am on Oct 7, 2000.

Hanafi, of Kampung Renik, Bachok, Kelantan, was also found guilty of raping the victim at the same place and time. He was sentenced to death for the murder and jailed 20 years and ordered to be given 12 strokes for the rape.

Appeal Judge, Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad, who headed the panel, said the court took some time to study the appeal records. "After deliberating on the matter, we reached a unanimous decision to dismiss the appeal and uphold both convictions and sentences," he said in an oral judgment. "There are also no questions of law in this case. The court will not be making any written judgment." Besides Abdul Hamid, the other Federal Court judges were Datuk Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, Datuk Ariffin Zakaria, Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohamad and Datuk Azmel Ma’amor.

With this judgment, Hanafi has exhausted his legal avenues. His last resort is to apply for a royal pardon. Despite the whipping sentence for rape being affirmed by the Federal Court, it is unlikely that the strokes will be implemented. Under Section 289 of the Criminal Procedure Code, a person who is facing the gallows shall not be whipped. Hanafi was immediately taken to the Sungai Buloh prison where he had been serving his jail sentence. Counsel Hamid Sultan Abu Backer was assigned by the Federal Court to represent Hanafi in the appeal. Deputy public prosecutors Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria and Ishak Mohd Yusof represented the respondents. Hamid Sultan, in his submissions on Monday, appealed that Hanafi’s murder charge be reduced to culpable homicide as there was a possibility that Noor Suzaily’s death may have been accidental. He said in a case of sexual assault, the assailant would normally hold the victim’s neck."This is the normal thing to do, and there is a possibility that during the assault the victim’s struggle may have led or caused her own death," he said.

"In the absence of evidence as to what happened, it would be wrong for the court and the prosecution to assume Hanafi had a motive to murder her. Any murder charge requires a motive but this was not proven by the prosecution throughout the trial." Hamid Sultan submitted that an 18-year-old youth, A. Devan, saw Noor Suzaily topless in the bus crying for help and this showed that the victim had been raped and that she was still alive then. "Similarly, Devan also testified that he saw Hanafi pulling up his pants when he was at the bus driver’s seat, and there is only one inference that could be made, that Hanafi had committed rape," he said. Hamid Sultan said pathologist Dr Abdul Halim Mansar also testified there were two fresh hymen tears on the victim, and there was blood oozing from her vagina showing the victim was raped before she died. He also said that the DNA analysis confirmed the seminal stains belonged to Hanafi.

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Fire of anger still burns in them; 13 Dec 2006 NST

KANGAR: Her bedroom is almost as she left it six years ago, except that her parents have added a glass display cabinet. It contains Noor Suzaily Mukhtar’s prized possessions — her collection of soft toys, and the Queen Anne silver serving dishes she had bought to use at her wedding. Her parents now sleep there, because they feel closer to their murdered 24-year-old daughter there.

But the pictures of "Suzy" that once hung in the sitting room of the single-storey terraced house in Taman Suraini here are all packed away, except for the one of her and her fiance she kept in her room.

Her parents, Mukhtar Ibrahim, 61, and 57-year-old Harison Husain (ABOVE) said they put away her photographs during the funeral and just didn’t have the heart to put them up again. Yesterday, all the pain of their loss was re-awakened with the news that 38-year-old Kiara Express bus driver Hanafi Mat Hassan, the man who raped and murdered their daughter, had again lost his appeal against the death sentence. The Federal Court upheld the decision made by the Shah Alam High Court in 2002. The couple is satisfied with the decision. They wanted justice for their only daughter. "I could never find it in my heart to ever forgive that man. He is worse than an animal. He killed my daughter and threw away her body without a single thread of clothing on her. My heart still burns with anger. I will only feel at peace when the sentence is carried out. I hope it will be soon. We’ve waited long enough," said Mukhtar. Harison said her family feared for her sanity in the months after her daughter’s death. She and her husband also have three sons aged 22 to 32 and five grandchildren. "I still dream about her. If she was still alive, Suzy would’ve been 30 this year, and maybe the mother of several children," she said. The couple also expressed their gratitude to the judges, investigators, prosecutors and all those who had helped in the case. "We also want to thank everyone who prayed for us and ympathised with us," Harison said.

Mum wants to apologise to victim's family; 13 Dec 2006; NST

BACHOK: She cuts a forlorn figure sitting near the window of her decrepit wooden home in Kampung Renik. Her health is gone - she cannot walk, and her joints ache all the time. If there is one more thing she wants to do in her life, Hanafi Mat Hassan’s 80-year-old mother wants to meet Noor Suzaily’s family and apologise to them for her son’s terrible deed. "I want to beg for forgiveness. I am sorry, on behalf of him. I regret what happened. If possible, I would like to meet them (Noor Suzaily’s family), but my health wouldn’t allow it," said Mesah Said. Yesterday, the Federal Court upheld Hanafi’s death sentence for the rape and murder six years ago of the 24-year-old computer engineer. Hanafi is the seventh of her eight children. She hasn’t seen him since he was sentenced in 2002.