PUTRAJAYA – A man and a woman sentenced to death for the murder of the latter’s husband escaped the gallows after the Federal Court commuted their punishment to 36 years in jail today.
The court ordered their jail sentence to begin on February 17, 2012.
The man, Puganeswaran Ganesan, 34, will also receive 12 strokes of the cane.
The top court is currently reviewing death penalty sentences following Malaysia’s move to abolish capital punishment last year.
In 2012, Puganeswaran and housewife Annamah Karuganaran had an affair and plotted to kill the latter’s husband Ganeshan Muniandy. They looped in three minors to help.
A fourth person, who is a juvenile offender in this case, introduced the three teenagers to Puganeswaran.
Puganeswaran said he wanted Ganeshan dead because the latter was “a bad husband who asked his wife to do a dirty job for another man,” according to case facts.
Puganeswaran also promised the three minors – who were teenagers at the time – that they would be given RM5,000 each “to do the job”.
He said they would be paid using Ganeshan’s Employees’ Provident Fund savings.
The murder was attempted twice. The first was around 2am on February 16, 2012, which was unsuccessful. A second attempt was made at about 2.45am on the same day.
Before the second attempt, Puganeswaran, who was Annamah and her husband’s next-door neighbour, performed “puja” (an act of worship) in his house and told the teenagers that the weapon meant for the murder had been blessed. He assured them their plan would go smoothly.
The murder was carried out with Annamah giving a “signal” with a missed phone call.
She opened the front door of her house to let the minors in and handed one of them a pillow to be used to smother her husband.
While one teen placed the pillow over Ganeshan, another held his legs.
The aforementioned juvenile offender then stabbed the victim twice, waking him. The third teen stood behind the juvenile offender.
All the minors fled the scene with Ganeshan chasing after them, but he then fell in the living room of his house and died.
The case – tried and concluded at the high court on March 14, 2017 – resulted in the death penalty on both Puganeswaran and Annamah, while the three minors acted as prosecution witnesses.
The juvenile offender who recruited the three other teens was ordered to be detained at the pleasure of the Selangor sultan, pursuant to Section 97(2)(b) of the Child Act 2001.
The Court of Appeal, on August 18, 2018, and the Federal Court, on August 28, 2020, affirmed the high court’s decision.
However, at today’s hearing, the Federal Court allowed Puganeswaran and Annamah’s application for a death penalty revision filed under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.
The apex panel led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat commuted their sentence to 36 years in jail, with an additional sentence of 12 strokes of rotan for Puganeswaran.
Sitting with Tengku Maimun today was Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Nordin Hassan.
Annamah was visibly relieved in court today and was seen sobbing at the dock until she was escorted out of the court.
Earlier, objecting to the revision application, deputy public prosecutor Ng Siew Wee submitted the murder was premeditated murder and had involved underage children who were made to participate in the crime.
She also submitted that the murder was carried out through conspiracy for personal gain.
Meanwhile, Puganeswaran’s lawyer Saha Deva A. Arunasalam submitted that there was no evidence to prove the existence of the claimed EPF money meant to used to pay the minors.
“It was just the prosecution merely saying so to establish a motive. It must also be considered that my client was not present at the scene when the murder took place.”
Annamah’s lawyer Wan M. Razali Wan A. Kadir told the court that while “what is wrong will remain wrong”, the death sentence still ought to be commuted to imprisonment as Annamah was not in the room when the murder happened.
This, the lawyer said, showed her “minimal role” in the murder. – June 21, 2024