The High Court today ordered former lawyer N Pathmanabhan and his three farm workers to enter their defence on charges of murdering cosmetics millionaire Sosilawati Lawiya and three other individuals two years ago.      

Judge Akhtar Tahir announced the decision after concluding that the prosecution had successfully established a prima facie case against the four accused.

NONEPathmanabhan and the farm workers, T Thilaiyalagan, R Matan and R Khatavarayan are charged with the murder of Sosilawati, 47 (right), bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32 and Sosilawati’s driver, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44.

Pathmanabhan, 43, Thilaiyalagan, 21, Matan, 22, and Kathavarayan, 32, allegedly committed the offence at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting, between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30, 2010, and face the mandatory death sentence upon conviction under Section 302 of the Penal Code.   

In his judgment, Akhtar said he found that Sosilawati, Noorhisham, Ahmad Kamil and Kamaruddin died as a result of the joint intention of the four accused to beat them to death and burn them.   

He held that the main concern was not whether the victims died from the beatings but that they definitely died because they were burnt. 

“The three companions were together with Sosilawati at the wrong place and the wrong time. They had to be killed to ‘shut’ their mouths. 

“The blood of three victims were found on a wall, a cricket bat and two zinc sheets. It is not necessary to point out who delivered the fatal blow but there was intention to kill,” he said. 

Even though the victims’ exact location could not be identified by the mobile phone records, their conversations with family members confirmed they went to Banting, he added.  

He further remarked that their location was further confirmed by the testimonies of a snack shop worker who said Sosilawati had stopped by her shop and also Siti Hamidah Karnax, the former house help at the farm, who said she saw a woman and three men there.

He found Siti Hamidah’s testimony credible even though she was unable to identify the said woman and three men. 

The defence had submitted that Sosilawati had gone to Banting to meet some other people, including Sementa assemblyperson Abdul Raman Palil on a land matter but the testimonies showed the main reason for her trip was to meet Pathmanabhan to speed up a payment meant for her workers’ bonus. 

'Bank balance showed insufficient funds'

“However the accused’s (Pathmanabhan) bank balance showed insufficient funds and he could not honour the cheque. This was a more probable motive (for murder),” he said. 

NONE“The first accused (Pathmanabhan) (left) outrightly denied meeting Sosilawati when her ex-husband Buhari Mohamed asked him of her whereabouts and the denial showed he had actually seen her and was clearly lying.

This indicates guilt and not innocence. He is a lawyer and not a country bumpkin, he should have met relevant authorities to clear his name (if he was innocent),” he said.  

Akhtar said he was also satisfied that the several items found throughout the investigation belonged to the victims and that the evidence for the case were found as a result of the information provided by second and fourth accused, Thilaiyalagan and Kathavarayan respectively and the prosecution’s 29th witness U.Suresh.   

Suresh, 28, and another prosecution witness, K.Sarawanan, 21, are serving a 20-year term in the Sungai Udang prison, Melaka for disposing off the murder evidence.    

“The two accused knew the locations of the exhibits because they were the ones who disposed of them. There is a likelihood that the bone fragments found at the farm were part of Sosilawati and the three other victims’ remains,” he said.
 
There were 108 witnesses called and 713 exhibits tendered throughout the 71-day prosecution trial which started July 4, 2011. 

The prosecution is being conducted by DPPs Ishak Mohd Yusoff, Saiful Edris Zainuddin, Idham Abd Ghani, Siti Rohaida Che Hamid and Nur Azimul Azami Mohamad Nor.

Manjeet Singh Dhillon and Pushpa Ratnam are representing Pathmanabhan while Gurbachan Singh is appearing for Thilaiyalagan, Amer Hamzah Arshad and Ng See Teong for Matan, and Ravi Nekoo for Kathavarayan.  

Sosilawati's daughter not in court

Meanwhile, Sosilawati’s eldest daughter, Erni Dekritawati Yuliana Buhari, was not present in court.

Noorhisham’s widow, Suzana Radin Pangat, and two elder sisters of Kamaruddin attended court and sat through the proceedings until about 11.30am.

When contacted, Erni, 27, said she knew of the hearing but could not attend due to a meeting.

Kamaruddin’s sister Ramlah, 51, said she and her sister Zaidah, 53, had come from Kuantan yesterday.

The situation in court was calm although almost 100 people were on the seventh floor of the building eager to know the court’s decision. 

- Bernama