Transfer of Bella murder case to High Court to be determined on May 20

BATU PAHAT: The Magistrate’s Court here on Monday set May 20 for further directive status and also permission regarding the case of a man accused of killing Mila Sharmila Samsusah, 32, or Bella, to be transferred to the High Court.

Magistrate Suhaila Shafi’uddin set the date after the prosecution informed them that they had not yet received further instructions from the Johor State Prosecution Office following new developments in the murder case.

The prosecution was handled by Farah Wahidah Mohd Sharip, while the accused, Muhammad Haikal Mahfuz, 24, was represented by lawyer Syahril Anuar Harun.

In his submission, Syahril informed us that Muhammad Haikal had been in remand since January, but the case has not been transferred to the High Court yet.

The accused is charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment for a term not less than 30 years or not exceeding 40 years, if not sentenced to death, and shall also be liable to whipping not less than 12 times.

The Magistrate then asked the prosecution to complete the application for the case to be transferred immediately to the High Court, as two requests for permission were made in March and April.

Furthermore, the Magistrate’s Court invoked Section 117(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) as a medium for the case to be transferred to the High Court.

Earlier, Mohammad Haikal arrived at the court at around 9 am under tight security control by the security forces.

Also seen were family members of Mohammad Haikal, including his father, who waited as early as 8 am in the court compound.

Mohammad Haikal is accused of killing Bella between Jalan Kelapa Barli, Taman Soga, and Jalan Parit Besar in Kampung Parit Besar and an abandoned house in Lorong Imam Jailani, Tongkang Pechah.

The incident occurred between 11 pm and 5 am, between December 14 and 15, last year.