BINTULU: The High Court here acquitted and discharged Chong Yin Seng, who was accused of the gruesome murder of Leow Siew Chung which allegedly took place in 2018.
Leow was believed to have been beaten to death at a house at Taman Bougainvellea and later moved to a hilltop at Jalan Sebiew where his body was set on fire.
Chong and two other accused, Hong Han Loong and Wong Yin Sam, were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for beating Leow to death and later setting his body on fire at Jalan Sebiew between May 9 to 10 in 2018.
On Sept 15, 2022, the charge against Hong and Wong was dropped. They were both acquitted and later became prosecution witnesses.
Judge Datuk Duncan Sikodol, in delivering his judgement yesterday (Apr 13), found that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against Chong.
The justice found that the prosecution had failed to prove that Leow had, in fact, died, and even if he had, there was no proof that the death was caused by Chong.
In addition, the prosecution was also found to have failed to establish the exact place, date and time of the alleged murder.
Aside from that, there was also lack of proof to show that the bones at the crime scene were those of Leow or that they were human bones.
At the same time, there was a police report that showed Leow was still alive and at large after he was arrested by police in Johor on July 7, 2019.
Due to conflicting evidence, the court ruled that the fundamental flaws and dismal failure of the prosecution to establish the vital ingredients of the charge had not made out a prima facie case against Chong.
As a result, he was discharged and acquitted.
Deputy public prosecutor Jayniesa Laving Jarit prosecuted while counsels Shankar Ram Pohumall Asnani and Yu Ying Ying represented Chong.
