An unemployed man has been sentenced to death by the Alor Setar High Court for abusing and killing a three-year-old girl before disposing of her body in a forest at Gunung Raya in Langkawi.
Ramlan Abdul Rashid, 44, was convicted of murdering Nur Aisyah Aleya Abdullah between 9am and 10am on Feb 23, 2019 at the Langkawi Hospital’s living quarters, Harian Metro reported.
Justice Evawani Farisyta Mohammad said the defence failed to raise any reasonable doubt on the murder charge.
Evawani said Ramlan had a history of physically abusing the victim by forcing her to eat food mixed with chilli, and was also the last person seen with her.
“While forensic pathologists could not determine the victim’s cause of death because only her skull and two teeth were found, the circumstantial evidence produced before the court are solid and clearly show that the accused was the last person with the victim before she was found dead.
“The court is also satisfied that the victim had been beaten and abused by the accused over a prolonged period of time.
“The accused also showed no humanity in him by being willing to dispose of the dead child’s body in a forest area at Gunung Raya,” she said.
The victim’s mother, the 24th prosecution witness, had left the child under Ramlan’s care for two months while she commuted between her home and her job at an eatery.
She filed a police report in February 2019 when she could not find her daughter when she visited the home of the accused.
The accused claimed he had put the victim under another person’s care, but refused to disclose who or where the child was at.
While being questioned by police, Ramlan directed them towards a forest area at Gunung Raya, where the child’s remains were found.
Ramlan’s wife, a nurse, had testified that she heard the cries of a child on the night of Feb 23, 2019, though this had stopped not long after.
When she entered a room at their home, she found the child in the nude and lying stiff on a mat. She also noticed that there were cigarette burns on the victim’s thigh and bruises on both legs.
She said the victim seemed lifeless, and when she asked her husband what happened, he claimed the child had experienced a seizure.
