MALAYSIA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR 4 SECURITY PERSONNEL WHO KIDNAPPED COUPLE

November 7, 2013: Four security personnel were sentenced to death after being found guilty by the High Court in Malaysia of kidnapping a couple for a RM5,000 ransom more than two years ago.
P.Thinagaran, 27, S.S.Arumugam, 24, C.Krishnakumar, 24, and V.K.Santirasagaran, 32, committed the offence with another accomplice still at large, at Jalan Merak, Puchong City Centre, Selangor at about 4.30 am on March 4, 2011.
Justice Nor Azian Shaari in her judgement said their actions had not only caused anxiety and anguish to the married couple’s family members, it had forced terror in the victims and scarred them for life.
The judge also considered the violence in the case, in which the woman was raped by the accomplice still at large, who also bashed her husband while the four recorded the incident.
According to the facts of the case, the couple were at the scene to meet a man named Shan when they were suddenly dragged and shoved into a Honda car driven by Arumugam.
The victims were brought to Kampung Tan Sri Manikavasagam, Pulau Carey where they were confined in a vacant house that was linked to a modified storage container.
They were released the same day at 10 pm after the woman’s mother deposited RM1,500 in two transactions into the Maybank account of a 43-year-old man.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Asyraf Md Kamal prosecuted while counsel V.Thiru Kumar and Amir Faliq represented the four men. (Sources: BERNAMA, 07/11/2013)