The murder of navy cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain in 2017 by his peers at university, must be one of the most cruel in recent memory, and most evil in the history of our universities.

On 23 July, three judges sitting on the Court of Appeal panel unanimously found six former Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) students guilty of murdering Zulfarhan.

The appeal judges set aside the ex-students’ initial conviction for the offence of causing death with no intent to kill.

The bench, chaired by Hadhariah Syed Ismail, ruled that the initial 18-year jail sentence was deemed insufficient due to the viciousness of the crime.

Every parent’s worst nightmare is to predecease their children. It is one which fills them with intense sadness.

Zulfarhan’s murder probably ranks as one of the most horrific killings committed by a group of teenagers in Malaysia.

These adults were students at the university. They weren’t vagrants, or gang members, nor did they belong to the criminal underworld.

Their teachers in primary and secondary schools would have given them sufficient guidance when they were younger.

One would also have thought that they had been brought up well by their families and know the difference between right and wrong.

So, what happened that these teenagers tortured another student over several days, then denied their victim access to medical treatment, and were prepared to see him suffer and subsequently die?

Somewhere along the line, these students lost their morality and their sense of values.

These young adults took turns to torture Zulfarhan with a steam iron, which they pressed on his back, his front and his genitalia.

They made sure Zulfarhan was unable to fight back or escape, by tying him up before they beat him and applied the steam iron on him.

It was also a case of 18 adults against Zulfarhan and he did not have a chance.

Initially, the six former students were charged with murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty.

Five of them were charged with committing the murder while the sixth accused was charged with abetting the murder.

However, on 2 November, 2021, the Kuala Lumpur High Court found the six guilty under Section 304(a) of the code for causing Zulfarhan’s death with no intent to kill, and imposed an 18-year jail sentence.

Back in 2017, one of the boys was missing his laptop and accused Zulfarhan of stealing it.

Instead of reporting the loss to the warden, the university authorities, or the police, they targeted Zulfarhan, then bound him up before beating him.

They tortured him despite his denials and his screams of pain. The instruments of torture used were a belt, a rubber hose, a steam iron and a clothes hanger.

The students took him to a clinic in Bangi for treatment on two occasions — first, on 27 May, six days after the torture started, and again, on 31 May.

When Zulfarhan took a turn for the worse on 1 June, he was rushed to Serdang Hospital but died from his injuries two hours after his hospital admission. Eighty percent of his body was covered in bruises and scald marks.

In 2017, Zulfarhan’s mother was shocked to hear that her son had been beaten for allegedly stealing a laptop, but said her son had no reason to steal one, as he already owned one.

She claimed that some of her son’s things had been stolen, like his phone, because he had to use a friend’s phone to tell her he was unable to return home for Raya that year.

There are two observations that deserve scrutiny. These involve the clinic staff and the university’s tutors and warden

First. When he was at the clinic, didn’t the doctor and nurse notice that Zulfarhan had been scalded with an iron, and had been beaten?

Did the doctor fail to notice the tell-tale signs of being bound up? There must have been weals on Zulfarhan’s skin where he had been tied up. Didn’t they enquire into the cause of his injuries?

Did the clinic not see the extent of his beating and how badly burnt he was? Why did they not alert the police because this was no ordinary everyday injury.

Second. Was there no warden at the university lodgings to check on the welfare of the students?

Zulfarhan must have been in considerable pain. Had no one, not even his lecturers, been aware? Did the other students not notice, either?

Why are so many of our young, dying senseless deaths from being beaten? Is there a culture of violence in our society? Are parents, schools and community leaders failing our youth?

What is the root cause of this anger and violence against those whom they perceive to have done them wrong? Do people beat people up first before asking questions?

More importantly, Zulfarhan’s death could have been avoided if there had been adequate supervision at the hostel or university campus.

By all means punish the 18 boys, but the university has failed in its duty of care towards Zulfarhan and his peers.

The university and those in charge of accommodation should also be made accountable for what happened to Zulfarhan.

So, who stole the laptop? Did any of the accused show remorse? How will the Minister of Education deal with the increased bullying?

Sources:

1. Malaysiakini Six ex-students sentenced to death over navy cadet’s murder
2. YouTube: Zulfarhan’s parents react to court verdict

Read also: 

1. Is your child a bully? Or is he being bullied?
2. The curious case of the missing laptop in cadet’s murder

(Mariam Mokhtar is a Freelance Writer.)