[hang nadim] Lawyer and three others charged with murder

Pathmanabhan didakwa bunuh Sosilawati

BANTING – Kawasan mahkamah dipenuhi orang ramai apabila peguam, N Pathmanabhan, dan tiga lagi didakwa di Mahkamah Majistret Telok Datok, dekat sini, semalam, atas tuduhan membunuh jutawan, Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya dan tiga individu lain.

Selain peguam berumur 41 tahun itu, turut didakwa ialah T Thilaiyalagan, 19; R Matan, 20; dan R Kathavarayan, 30.

Puluhan penduduk dan lebih 20 wakil media berkumpul di luar mahkamah ketika keempat-empat yang dituduh tiba di mahkamah dengan van polis pada jam 8.20 pagi dengan dikawal rapi polis dan dibawa masuk untuk mendengar pertuduhan pada jam 9 pagi.

Mereka didakwa membunuh Sosilawati, 47; pegawai CIMB cawangan Kampung Baru, Noorhisham Mohamad, 38; peguam peribadi, Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32; dan pemandu, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44.

Kesalahan itu didakwa dilakukan antara jam 8.30 malam dan 9.45 malam 30 Ogos lalu di Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjung Layang, Tanjung Sepat, di sini dan pendakwaan dibuat mengikut Seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan yang memperuntukkan hukuman mati, jika sabit kesalahan.

Pertuduhan terhadap Pathmanabhan dibacakan dalam Bahasa Malaysia, manakala tiga yang lain dalam Bahasa Tamil di hadapan Majistret Hurman Hussain.

Tiada pengakuan direkodkan, tetapi kesemua tertuduh mengangguk sebagai tanda faham pertuduhan terhadap mereka.

Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Ishak Mohd Yusoff (gambar) yang mengetuai barisan pendakwaan memohon supaya mahkamah menetapkan tarikh sebutan semula kes bagi pihaknya mengemukakan dokumen yang berkaitan.

Ishak mengendalikan pendakwaan kes bersama Timbalan-Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Saiful Edris Zainudin dan Idham Abd Ghani

Ibu Sosilawati harap pesalah dihukum seadilnya

BATU PAHAT – Ibu Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya, Yatmi Abdul Rahman, 77, meletakkan sepenuh harapan agar pesalah yang membunuh Allahyarham dijatuhi hukuman yang setimpal dengan kekejaman yang dilakukan.

Menurut Yatmi, mahkamah perlu meneliti segala bukti yang diperolehi polis agar penjenayah terbabit dapat diadili dengan sebaik mungkin dan jangan sampai terlepas.

“Kami sekeluarga mahukan orang jahat itu dikenakan hukuman yang paling berat, setimpal dengan perkara yang telah dilakukannya kepada Wati,” katanya kepada Sinar Harian, semalam.

Semalam suspek utama, N Pathmanabhan dan tiga yang lain didakwa di Mahkamah Majistret Banting, pagi semalam, mengikut Seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan, atas tuduhan membunuh jutawan kosmetik, Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya, 47, pemandunya, Kamaruddin Shansudin, 44, peguam, Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, pegawai CIMB Noorhisham Mohammad, 38

Sementara itu, adik Sosilawati, Rosnani Lawiya, 45, berkata, keluarganya berasa lega kerana suspek utama kes pembunuhan kakaknya telah mula dibicarakan dan jika didapati bersalah perlu dijatuhkan hukuman yang berat.

“Kami sekeluarga mengucapkan berbanyak terima kasih kepada mana-mana pihak yang mengambil berat dengan kes ini, termasuklah pihak polis dan media yang bekerja bagi memastikan kes ini dapat diselesaikan.

“Tiada apa yang kami harapkan, cuma jika suspek berkenaan memang benar-benar bersalah, hukumlah dengan seadilnya. Kami mengharapkan ia dijadikan pengajaran kepada pesalah berkenaan,” katanya.

Thursday October 14, 2010
Lawyer and three others charged with murder
By LISA GOH and NURBAITI HAMDAN
news@thestar.com.my

BANTING: One of the country’s more gruesome murder cases saw its first day in court when a lawyer and three of his farm hands were in the dock to face charges of murdering cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and three others.

N. Pathmanabhan, 41, T. Thilaiyalagan, 19, R. Matan, 20, and R. Kathavarayan, 30, were jointly charged before magistrate Hurman Hussain yesterday.

Pathmanabhan
They were led into the courtroom at Telok Datok here at about 9am.

The courtroom was filled with members of the press and some 20 members of the public, including an ex-schoolmate of lawyer Pathmanabhan.

However, none of their family members were present.

The charges against Pathmanabhan were read in Bahasa Malaysia while the charges against the rest were read in Tamil.

They were charged with the murder of Sosilawati, 47, CIMB Bank officer Noorhisham Mohammad, 38, personal lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abd Karim, 32, and driver Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44.

All the four accused allegedly committed the murders at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjung Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30.

No plea was recorded.

The accused were all handcuffed, with Matan having two handcuffs on him.

The four looked calm and composed when the charges were read out.

It was reported that the four victims had gone missing on Aug 30 after telling family and friends that they were going to Banting to discuss a land deal.

The other accused (from left) Thilaiyalagan, Matan and Kathavarayan (right) being taken to the Telok Datok magistrate’s court Wednesday. — K.K. SHAM / The Star

More than a week later, they were discovered to have been murdered.

Their bodies were believed to have been burnt and their ashes thrown into a river near a farm owned by Pathmanabhan.

The accused are also being investigated for the disappearance of several others, including Indian millionaire A. Muthuraja, 34, local businessmen Mohd Shafiq Abdullah, 37, and housewife T. Selvi, 44.

Representing Patmanabhan were lawyers Amer Hamzah Arshad, Ravi Nekoo, Pushpa Ratnam and Datuk Ng See Teong, while prosecuting were deputy public prosecutors Ishak Mohd Yusoff, Saiful Edris Zainudin and Idham Abd Ghani. The other three accused were not represented.

After the charges were read, Amer told the court that counsel would like to speak to their client, as they had not had time to seek direction from him, and that they had only been allowed to see him twice, and only for a few minutes, since his arrest on Sept 11.

He also asked for the defence lawyers to be allowed to see the other three accused to help them get their counsel of choice, to which the magistrate replied:

“I am not getting involved in this. I am not an advertising agency.

“Their family members should be aware of this, and they should contact the lawyers.”


The legal team: Leaving the courthouse in Banting are (from left) Pushpa, Amer Hamzah, Nekoo and Ng.

Amer told the court that their family members were not aware that they had been arrested.

Patmanabhan then addressed the court directly, and said that the others were not “legally savvy”, and that even if their family members were aware, they might not know how to get legal representation.

The other three accused also piped up that they would like to speak with Patmanabhan’s lawyers.

The court then allowed the defence lawyers 10 minutes to see their client and the three other accused, and ordered the prosecution to inform the family members of the charging.

The court fixed Dec 16 for mention of the case.