The Federal Court upheld a 40-year jail term and caning for a man who murdered his mother and hid her body in a septic tank, calling the crime heinous and inhumane.
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has upheld a 40-year prison sentence and 12 strokes of the cane for an unemployed man who murdered his mother and concealed her body in a septic tank eight years ago.
A three-member panel chaired by Chief Justice Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh unanimously dismissed Mohammad Firdaus Ismail’s final appeal. Justice Wan Ahmad Farid described the appellant’s crime as cruel and inhumane, stating he had killed the very woman who gave him life.
“It was a heinous and despicable act. The manner of the offence and disposal of the victim’s body in a septic tank compounded the gravity of the case,” he said. The panel, which included Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hashim Hamzah and Federal Court Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, affirmed the sentence originally imposed by the Court of Appeal.
Mohammad Firdaus was initially sentenced to death by the Butterworth High Court in April 2022 for murdering his 63-year-old mother, Faridah Mat Hashim. The Court of Appeal later commuted the death sentence to 40 years’ imprisonment from the date of his arrest in September 2018, along with the caning.
His lawyer, Datuk Seri K Kumaraendran, had sought a sentence reduction, arguing his client showed remorse. Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Zain Ibrahim countered that the punishment was not excessive and should be upheld in the public interest.
“There is no denying the appellant’s siblings have forgiven him. But they are also part of society, and the public must receive a strong, clear message about his actions,” Mohd Zain submitted. He detailed that the victim suffered multiple wounds and her severely decomposed body was found infested with maggots after six to seven days in the septic tank.
The prosecutor noted the case went to a full trial with no expression of remorse from the accused. He argued it would be inappropriate to further reduce the sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal.
The Sun Malaysia
