SHAH ALAM: One of the motives for the murder of Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya is former lawyer N Pathmanabhan's inability to honour a cheque issued to her, Justice Akhtar Tahir said in his judgement.
"Pathmanabhan testified that he appeared for both Sosilawati and (politician) Rahman Palil (a name mentioned during the defence trial) in the same deal and by doing so he was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
"It was his (Pathmanabhan) testimony that he was reluctant to organise a meeting involving both of them when requested for such a meeting.
"When pushed to the corner, as what happened to Pathmanabhan in this case, he took the easy route of eliminating one of the persons and unfortunately it happened to be Sosilawati.
"The rest who accompanied Sosilawati were just at the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.
Sosilawati, 47, her driver Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44, bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, and lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, were reported missing after they went to Banting for a land deal. Their disappearance made headlines nationwide.
The judge found Pathmanabhan, 43, and farm hands T. Thilaiyalagan, 21, R. Matan, 22 and R. Kathavarayan, 33, guilty of murdering Sosilawati and the others at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjung Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting, between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30, 2010.
Justice Akhtar noted that the case was unlike others where no dead bodies were recovered.
"The only other case of a similar nature was the case of Singaporean Sunny Ang where the accused was convicted despite the body of victim not found," he added.
He said the court did not see a reason why the accused in this case cannot be convicted merely because no bodies were recovered.
"The evidence in this case satisfies the ingredients required to prove a charge of murder.
"The four accused had caused the death of Sosilawati and her aides and they only had one intention to do so, that is to cause the deaths intentionally with full knowledge of their actions," he said. Mystar
Latest News Malaysia News N. Pathmanabhan News Sosilawati Lawiya
