KUCHING: The Magistrate’s Court here today set May 26 for the mention of the case involving an e-hailing driver charged with the murder of Nurul Asikin Lan, whose body was found in a drain along Jalan Setia Raja, Tabuan, last December.

Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura Wan Ali set the date following a request by the prosecution, represented by deputy public prosecutor Jean Siow Chung Hwei, as the prosecution was still waiting for the forensic report regarding the WhatsApp messages between the suspect and victim.

She also told the court that the prosecution had received the reports on the victim’s deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis and post-mortem.

Zakwan Mokhtar, 24, unrepresented, is charged with causing the death of Nurul Asikin, 29, before her body was discovered in a drain along Jalan Setia Raja, at 9.10 pm on Dec 14 last year.

The charge, framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, provides death or imprisonment of not less than 30 years and not more than 40 years. If not sentenced to death, he can be whipped with not less than 12 lashes, upon conviction.