PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia – A former female clerk and her two companions have had their death sentences commuted to 35 years in jail by the Court of Appeal for the abduction and murder of a company managing director whose body was found dumped over the Penang Second Bridge nine years ago. Sunil Singh, A. Malarvili, and C. Kavin Mukilan were initially sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court in 2018 for the murder of 68-year-old Balveer Kaur.

The appeals court, chaired by Judge Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, made the unanimous decision to overturn the death sentence. Sunil, who was the deceased’s former driver, and Kavin Mukilan were also ordered to receive 12 strokes of the rotan for the murder charge, along with an additional three strokes for abduction. Malarvili, however, was exempt from the whipping as Malaysian law prohibits such punishment for female offenders.

During the proceedings, Judge Vazeer noted that while abduction was acknowledged by the defense, there was no evidence to support the alleged demand for a RM2 million ransom. The judge highlighted that there were phone calls made post-abduction which implicated Malarvili in the case.

It was established in court that the trio deliberately caused the death of the victim by suffocating her and discarding her body in the sea. Judge Vazeer emphasized that the defendants had been given a fair trial and were well aware of the prosecution’s case against them.

The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutor Noorhisham Jaafar, with Malarvili and Kavin Mukilan being represented by lawyers Jasmine Cheong and Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi, respectively. Sunil was represented by counsel Amer Hamzah Arshad, Chew Jee San, Kitson Foong, and Joshua Tay.

In a prior ruling on December 27, 2018, the High Court Judge Datuk Zulkifli Bakar had sentenced the trio to death for the murder of Balveer Kaur, along with the abduction and wrongful confinement of the victim. The case was charged under relevant sections of the Penal Code and Kidnapping Act 1961.

The trio’s sentences being commuted to 35 years in prison marks a significant development in this long-standing case of abduction and murder, bringing some closure to the victim’s family and the public.