KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - - A pair of identical twins escaped being
convicted and hanged on drugs charges in Malaysia, due to confusion
over which one of them was the culprit, reports said on
Saturday.
The 27-year-old twins, R. Sathis Raj and Sabarish Raj, had been
charged with trafficking 166 kilos of cannabis and 1.7 kilos of raw
opium in 2003. But police had trouble identifying which one was in
possession of the drugs.
"This is a very unique case as they are identical twins. Even
the DNA evidence could not prove anything as the DNA could be
either Sathis' or Sabarish's," said High Court judge Zaharah
Ibrahim.
"I can't be calling the wrong twin to enter his defence. I can't
be sending the wrong person to the gallows," she said according to
the New Straits Times as she acquitted the pair.
The court heard that one of the twins was caught taking a car
load of drugs to a house in suburban Kuala Lumpur. After he was
apprehended the other twin arrived at the house and was also
arrested.
"It is clear that the first twin who was caught was the only one
who had access to the house. Therefore, it is impossible for him
not to know what was inside the bags," the judge said according to
the daily.
However, she said there was reasonable doubt as to which twin
had been arrested first. The brothers cried and embraced family
members in the court room when the verdict was handed down.
SOURCE
