KUALA LUMPUR : A Malaysian man was on Wednesday sentenced to
death after a court found him guilty of raping and murdering a
28-year-old US-based IT analyst in a grisly case that has shocked
the nation.
A High Court sentenced Ahmad Najib Aris, 29, to hang for killing
Canny Ong Lay Kian in June 2003, the national news agency Bernama
said.
High Court Justice Muhamad Ideres Muhamad Rapee also ordered Ahmad
Najib, a former aircraft cabin cleaner, to be given 10 strokes of
the cane for raping the victim.
"I don't have any fear (of death). I feel perfectly normal.. this
is what I have expected," Ahmad Najib, who appeared calm when the
sentence was passed, was quoted as saying.
He had chosen to remain silent during the trial and not make his
defence.
Canny Ong, who was married to a US citizen, was abducted in the
parking lot of a shopping mall in an upmarket Kuala Lumpur suburb
while visiting her parents in Malaysia.
She was raped and murdered, and her burnt body was found several
days later in a manhole. - AFP