KUALA LUMPUR – The Instagram page of a whistleblower, who had attempted to seek help for naval cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain before his senseless death, has been flooded with well-wishes from netizens.
A letter written by Muhammad Aiman Aufa Asmadi Affendi to Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia’s (UPNM) top management pleading for aid to be provided to Zulfarhan made the rounds on social media.
This came after the Court of Appeal on Tuesday imposed the death penalty on six former UPNM students convicted of murdering Zulfarhan seven years ago, with the deceased succumbing to multiple injuries after he was tortured by those accused for over 10 days.
Taking to his Instagram account today, Aiman shared a picture of one of the two letters he had written to UPNM authorities in 2017 after seeing the extent of the injuries Zulfahan suffered due to a hot steam iron being pressed against him.
“After nearly eight years, this is the first time I’m seeing this letter again. After I sent it in, I haven’t seen it until now.
“I’m not sure how the public has gotten hold of the letter, (but) whatever it is, Al-Fatihah for (Zulfarhan’s) family. As humans, we can only plan, but Allah decides,” Aiman said in a brief caption accompanying the image.
There has since been an outpour of positive sentiments from netizens, who commented on Aiman’s other Instagram posts to thank him for endeavouring to help 20-year-old Zulfarhan.
During high court proceedings in 2018, Aiman had reportedly told the court that he had sent the letters anonymously instead of approaching UPNM’s top management as he did not want to receive the same fate as Zulfarhan, who was abused after being suspected of stealing a laptop.
One letter, he informed the court, was placed at the fence of the Armed Forces Hospital on May 23 2017 while the second letter was placed under the door of a trainer’s room the following day.
It is understood that university authorities had failed to take action on either letter, with its recipients instead opting to post the letter in a WhatsApp group, leading to Zulfarhan’s abusers moving him to a different location to avoid detection.
In delivering the appellate court’s judgement earlier this week, judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail said the torture inflicted against Zulfarhan was “despicable, inhumane and merciless”.
Zulfarhan’s murder, the judge added, shocked not only the judicial branch, but the collective conscience of society, saying: “This kind of case is the rarest of the rare, involving brutal crimes that are extremely dangerous to society.”
Apart from the murder charge reinstated against the six accused, the court also dismissed the appeal of another 12 former UPNM students who were involved in the incident leading to Zulfarhan’s death, with the three-member panel increasing their custodial term to four years from the previously imposed three years. – July 25, 2024