Wanita DAP urges A-GC to brief Yap Shing Xuen's family on acquittal

KUALA LUMPUR: Wanita DAP has urged the Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC) and prosecution team to arrange an official briefing with the parents of the late Yap Shing Xuen and their legal representative.

Its chief, Teo Nie Ching, said this following the Shah Alam High Court's decision to acquit a teenage boy on grounds of legal insanity over the death of 16-year-old Yap at a secondary school in Bandar Utama on Oct 14 last year.

"It is vital for the prosecution to exercise compassionate criminal justice by addressing several key issues with the family.

"First, a clear explanation of the court's ruling. The A-GC must clearly explain the legal distinction between an acquittal on grounds of insanity under Section 84 of the Penal Code and a standard acquittal.

"The family deserves a thorough explanation of why the court reached its conclusion based on the medical evidence, and what the court's order for psychiatric detention under Section 348 of the Criminal Procedure Code actually entails.

"Second, an assessment of an appeal. Under Malaysian criminal law, the right to appeal a High Court decision rests solely with the public prosecutor.

"Therefore, the A-GC must advise the family whether the prosecution intends to file a notice of appeal within the mandatory statutory period of 14 days from the date of the order, and explain the legal merits or limitations of doing so," she said in a statement today.

Teo added that justice must be clearly understood and felt by those who had suffered the ultimate loss.

"While we respect the judicial process, expert psychiatric evaluations and the application of criminal law, our heart goes out first and foremost to the grieving parents and family of Yap Shing Xuen.

"For a family that has lost their young child under such harrowing circumstances, hearing a verdict of 'acquittal', even one accompanied by mandatory psychiatric detention, inevitably brings immense pain, confusion and a feeling that full closure remains out of reach.

"Victims' families should never be left to navigate the aftermath of complex court rulings in isolation or through news headlines alone."

On Monday, a 15-year-old boy was acquitted of murdering Yap after the High Court found that he was of unsound mind at the time of the incident.

Judge Adlin Abdul Majid ordered the boy to be detained and treated at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta in Perak at the pleasure of the Sultan of Selangor.

The boy's lawyer, Kitson Foong, who briefed reporters following the closed-door proceedings, said the defence had successfully established the requirements under Section 84 of the Penal Code, which provides for the defence of insanity, while the prosecution had failed to rebut it.

Yap's mother, Wong Lee Ping, later expressed her sadness over the High Court's decision in a Facebook post and vowed to continue seeking justice for her daughter.