Teen charged with Bandar Utama school murder to undergo psychiatric evaluation

PETALING JAYA: The 14-year-old boy charged with murdering his schoolmate will undergo psychiatric evaluation at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta in Perak.

Magistrate Amira Sariaty Zainal granted the application made by the teenager’s lawyer, Anwar Ezzad Zainal, under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Section 342 allows an accused suspected of being of unsound mind to be sent to a gazetted hospital to assess fitness to stand trial.

The matter was confirmed by lawyer Kitson Foong, who appeared as amicus curiae during closed door proceedings on Wednesday (October 22).

The boy cannot be named as he is a juvenile, and the media was barred from the courtroom.

Outside the courtroom, Foong said the application was in the best interests of the accused.

He said it ensures reasonable arrangements to protect him from self-harm and to safeguard others during detention.

“The psychiatric evaluation must also address his fitness to plead. It must assess whether he can enter a plea and understand the nature of the proceedings,” said Foong.

“What is most important is his state of mind before and during the offence,” he added when meeting reporters at the Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (October 22).

Earlier, the teenager was charged with the murder of a 16-year-old girl at a school’s female toilet in Bandar Utama.

The incident allegedly occurred between 9.20am and 9.35am on October 14.

The accused stood beside his parents and remained silent when the charge was read in Mandarin.

No plea was recorded, as murder cases fall under the High Court’s jurisdiction.

The court fixed November 21 for mention.