Malaysia appeals court doubles prison sentence for fatal stabbing

A Malaysian appellate court has increased the prison sentence of a woman convicted of culpable homicide from six and a half years to 12 years. The case stems from a 2022 incident in Johor Bahru where the woman, who was 19 at the time, fatally stabbed her 29-year-old boyfriend during a confrontation at a hotel.

According to court documents, the dispute began after the man demanded sex and the woman refused. The man reportedly threatened her with a knife, leading to a struggle for the weapon during which she stabbed him multiple times. An autopsy revealed 28 injuries, with multiple stab wounds to the chest identified as the cause of death.

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that the original sentence imposed by the Johor Bahru High Court was too lenient. Judge Evrol Mariette Peters stated that the lower court had been “over-sympathetic” by placing excessive emphasis on the defendant's young age while failing to give sufficient weight to the gravity of the offense.