Kota Kinabalu: A 29-year-old plumber who attempted to kill a 16-year-old girl by stabbing her neck with a knife and uttered the words “matilah kau, biarlah kau di dalam” before leaving her alone after the attack, was jailed eight years.
Sessions Court Judge Marlina Ibrahim meted out out the sentence to Gambu Kumbit who pleaded guilty to the charge against him on Thursday.
Gambu had tried to murder the girl using the weapon at noon on May 7 this year at a house in Kg Nosoob, Penampang.
The offence under section 307 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of to 20 years, on conviction.
The court ordered Gambu to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest and referred to the Immigration Department for further action.
During mitigation, Gambu who was not represented, asked for leniency saying that he has two children to look after and that he was working as plumber.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor DK Afiqah Alya urged the court to impose a heavy sentence considering the sheer brutality and gravity of the attack as Gambu did not merely intend to cause hurt but acted with the specific intent to terminate a human life.
Afiqah submitted that judicial notice should be taken that attacks Involving such weapons carry a high risk of fatality, necessitating a deterrent custodial sentence and that the punishment must be sufficiently severe to discourage others from resorting to such extreme violence.
On the said day, Gambu went to house to find the victim’s sister and when he arrived at the house, the victim was inside the toilet which was opened at that time.
The victim then scolded Gambu while uttering the words ”pu….mak kau, kau datang sini tuntut hutang saja”.
After a while, the victim saw Gambu enter the toilet while holding a knife and she shouted for help but Gambu then stabbed her neck two times after pushing her on the wall until she fell down on the floor.
At that time, the victim saw a large amount of blood flowing from her wound, and the accused allegedly said, “matilah ko, biarlah ko di dalam, (You die, just stay inside there),”in a vicious manner.
The victim saw Gambu left alone at the scene and she was later found by a neighbour, who then called the police.
The victim was then rushed to the hospital for immediate treatment. A medical examination confirmed that she had an irregular and jagged stab wound measuring 4cm by 3cm on the front of her neck.
The stab wound penetrated deeply, exposing the neck muscles and causing damage to the wall of the trachea (windpipe).
According to the attending medical officer, due to the severe and life-threatening neck injury that compromised the victim’s airway, the hospital had to perform an emergency cricothyrotomy by creating an opening in her neck to insert a breathing tube after intubation failed because of the excessive bleeding.
Following a police report, Gambu was arrested thereafter.
