“IF YOU HAVE ANY HUMANITY PLEASE AMBUSH ROOM 4-10 SOMEONE NEEDS HELP.”
21st May 2017. Dawn was approaching. And at the Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia(UPNM), 6 students had found the thief that stole their laptop.
They began cornering one of their mate, Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain. The interrogation starts.
The 6 students were completely confident, Zulfarhan is the culprit. Not because of hard evidence or a truthful witness. But because a shaman had told them.
“I can see that Zulfarhan took something.” was the shaman’s words. That was enough.
In reality, Zulfarhan was innocent. He denied the accusations.
Bewildered by Zulfarhan’s declaration of innocence, the 6 students began beating him up. A follow up beating was scheduled by the 6 students, this time they had invited another 12 students.
The plan is to force a confession. Zulfarhan remained his innocence as all 19 students subjected him to intense physical beatings. Unfortunately, things are just starting get worse.
On the second night, the 6 students subjected Zulfarhan to hours of horrible torture. Zulfarhan was bound. His hands and feet, tied. He couldn’t move and they made sure his screams would be muffled.
One of them took a steam iron and burned his skin. Zulfarhan screamed, his legs coiled and struggled. He still repeated his innocence.
Unsatisfied, the 6 students took turns stamping the hot steam iron on his skin. Zulfarhan’s body from chest to toe was covered with 90 burn marks.
He had suffered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree burns.
In the aftermath, a student, Akmal Akif, passed by and caught a glimpse of Zulfarhan’s injured body. But before he could help, the 6 students intimidated him.
He feared for his life and decided to play along and join them. It is unclear if he participated in the burning.
After he was released, he told another student about Zulfarhan. They both decided to send an anonymous letter to an active-duty warden. Kapten Haryati Hassan.
Contextual translation: “If you have a heart and humanity. I urgently beg of you. Go ambush room 4-10, Satria Block (front of the mosque). There is an injured individual that urgently needs medical attention. Quickly QUICKLY!!!”
Kapten Haryati Hassan took the letter lightly. She snapped a photo of the letter, shared it on a Whatsapp group and announced that she’d come by the room. A Whatsapp group notification pinged, some of the 6 students checked their phone. Sparing no time, they moved Zulfarhan to another location.
Of course, Kapten Haryati Hassan would find nothing. “I did not find anything suspicious” is what she would testify in the coming days.
With the failure of the first letter. The two would-be saviours tried a 2nd time. This time they anonymously left a clear instruction for the wardens.
“PLEASE FIND NAVY CADET OFFICER ZULFARHAN”
Following the anonymous letter. Periodic row calls would take place. The 6 students had someone disguised as Zulfarhan. Each dormitory had 30 students. The warden would have each student count up to 30, feel satisfied and conclude the row call.
Fooling the wardens was tragically too easy.
The following nights, Zulfarhan’s condition worsened. Two of the 6 students took him to a clinic. The doctor surprised by the injuries redirected them to a hospital nearby for emergency aid. The two insisted the doctor help them clean Zulfarhan’s wounds instead.
The doctor would question Zulfarhan if his parents were aware of his serious injuries. Perhaps due to fear of those accompanying him, Zulfarhan requested the doctor to stay silent.
Not satisfied, the doctor wrote an emergency referral letter to a nearby hospital for Zulfarhan. Of course, the two students ignored the referral letter and took Zulfarhan back to a private condominium where they had kept him.
Zulfarhan’s injuries only got worse. Bacterial infection had spread. The 6 students, oblivious to his worsening condition, continued to give him general treatment.
On 31st May 2017, the 6 students and Zulfarhan had a meal together. The 6 students felt relieved as Zulfarhan had a big appetite, enjoying his meal. He had eaten a dish called “Bubur Lambuk”.
It would be his last.
The following morning, one of the 6 students would find Zulfarhan stiff. Not breathing. He was brought to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.
Malaysia reacts to Zulfarhan’s case
Two weeks after Zulfarhan’s funeral, the 6 students were charged in court for the murder of Zulfarhan. Another 12 students would be charged for intentionally causing injury to Zulfarhan to force a confession.
The case garnered nationwide attention. Stories of bullying began to spread on social media. Intense pressure was put on authorities, UPNM, and the families of the 6 students.
Malaysia hungered for justice.
6 students would be found guilty. The punishment for murder in Malaysia is death by hanging.
The parents of the 6 students hired top tier lawyers in the country, hoping to have a lighter sentence. Malaysians questioned who the parents were as the lawyers they hired are usually involved with business tycoons and politicians.
The High Court charged the 6 students under intent to injure without intent to kill. They were sentenced to 18 years imprisonment. Malaysians took to social media to express their anger and shock.
The prosecution submitted an appeal for a heavier sentence. 7 years would go by.
On 23rd of July 2024, the Court of Appeals in Putrajaya reviewed the case. After careful review, a 3-panel judge, Justices Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Azmi Ariffin determined that the punishment was too light. They also mentioned the previous judge made an obvious mistake.
“Therefore, we unanimously decide that there will be only one sentence for all six accused persons, where all of them shall be taken to the gallows where they will be hung to death,” Justice Hadhariah announced.
“In this case, there are several factors that aggravate this sentence, among which the actions of the first to fifth accused are quite cruel. The deceased’s legs and hands were tied while they held an iron to the deceased’s body.
“In addition, before being ironed, the deceased was beaten en masse. Although the six accused looked and saw the deceased writhing in pain, they closed their eyes, did not care and continued to press the iron over almost the entire body of the deceased resulting in 90 burns.”
“The accused 1 to 5 held the iron on all parts of the deceased’s body, including the genitals, showing that they are malicious, cruel, inhumane and without compassion for fellow students.”
The other 12 accused, previously given a 3-year jail sentence, had the sentence replaced with a 4-year jail sentence.
The guilty 6 may still appeal to the Wilayah Persekutuan High Court or the Pardons Board. Lawyers of the guilty 6 have expressed their intention to appeal the ruling.
Other notable facts of the case:
- Wardens of UPNM who are responsible for the safety of students were not charged
- Kapten Haryati Hassan, the active-duty warden who took the matter lightly has not been seen online or in public since the case broke out
- The shaman who accused Zulfarhan is the father of one of the 12 students charged for causing harm to Zulfarhan
- An autopsy report states that Zulfarhan had two burns of the 1st degree, 59 burns of the 2nd degree, and 29 burns of the 3rd degree. Totaling 90 burns.
- The clinic bill amounting to RM400 ($85) was paid by one of the accused. It’s suspected that it was Zulfarhan’s money. Zulfarhan’s bank records show a withdrawal had been made prior.
- Zulfarhan’s last meal with the guilty 6 was on the 5th of Ramadhan. They were breaking fast.
- Zulfarhan died on the 6th of Ramadhan.
- One of the guilty six had tweeted “heal fast please” alluding to them panicking when the burn injuries got worse.
- One of the guilty six’s Youtube history show how-to videos of healing 3rd degree burns.
- At the height of the court case, a girlfriend of one of the guilty 6 accused Zulfarhan of having bad behaviour that led to his demise. She has deleted her social media account since.
- On the first day of court, the guilty 6 were seen smiling to the camera and making jokes.
- An attendee of the case hearing mentioned the guilty 6 would joke, smile, laugh, or look bored inside the court room.
- UPNM has yet to make a statement regarding Zulfarhan’s case.
…
Closing thoughts
Zulfarhan is not the first case where a victim of bullying had died. But it is undeniable that his case is the most evil Malaysia has ever experienced.
The culture of bullying in Malaysia is accepted to be a norm. In some cases, it is grossly romanticised. Parents and teachers often take bullying cases lightly. There are also instances of coverups to protect the reputation of the school or parents.
Some of these parents are government servants or business tycoons. They’re known to abuse their wealth and status to protect their children from justice.
However, the majority of Malaysians most of which belong to the middle and lower class are voicing their frustration with this reality. Criticisms have grown stronger since Zulfarhan’s case.
Author’s note: The names and photos of the guilty 6 are not mentioned on purpose. It’s in my humble opinion that evil people should be lost to obscurity, especially when justice(death by hanging) is delivered.
One Response
Rest in peace Zulfarhan. May those bullies rot in hell.