Kota Kinabalu: Two Filipinos who were remanded until end of this month to assist into the investigation of the murder of a 10-year-old girl, were jailed four months each for entering the State illegally.
Sessions Court Judge Hurman Hussain meted out the sentence to Filipinos, aged 39 and 21 after they pleaded guilty separately to the charge against them on Friday.
The 39-year-old was arrested at 2.30pm on July 16, this year, at an open area in Kampung Numbak 2, Manggatal.
While the 21-year-old was arrested three days later which was on July 19, at 3.20pm on July 19, by the roadside in Kampung Numbak, Sepanggar.
During the arrests, the illegal immigrants had failed to produce their valid identification documents.
They were convicted under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, punishable under Section 6(3) of the same Act, which carries a fine of up to RM10,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both, as well as up to six strokes of the cane.
After serving the jail sentence, the court ordered the duo to be referred to the Immigration Department for further action.
For record, the 39-year-old had previously been remanded together with a 42-year-old local man after they were detained following the discovery of the body of 10-year-old Nurjilya Abdullah in a bushes area near a house under construction in Kampung Numbak, Sepanggar, on July 16.
Their remand, which began on July 17, was extended until July 31 to allow police to complete their investigation.
It was reported that the post-mortem examination found that Nurjilya died from injuries to her face and the back of her head, believed to have been caused by a hard, blunt object.
The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code, and it was learnt that several arrests have been made in connection with the case.
