A 14-year-old boy charged with murdering his schoolmate will undergo psychiatric evaluation at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak.
Magistrate Amira Sariaty Zainal approved the application made by the boy’s lawyer, Anwar Ezzad Zainal, under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The provision allows an accused person suspected of being of unsound mind to be sent to a gazetted hospital to determine fitness to stand trial.
The matter was confirmed by lawyer Kitson Foong, who acted as amicus curiae during the closed-door proceedings on Wednesday (22 October).
As the accused is a juvenile, his identity cannot be disclosed, and the media was barred from entering the courtroom.
Outside the court, Foong said the application was made in the best interests of the accused.
He explained that the evaluation would ensure “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,” Foong said.
“What is most important is his state of mind before and during the offence,” he added when speaking to reporters at the Magistrates’ Court.
Earlier, the teenager was charged with the murder of a 16-year-old girl in a school’s female toilet in Bandar Utama. The incident allegedly occurred between 9.20am and 9.35am on 14 October.
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 jurisdiction of the High Court.
The court set 21 November for mention.