KLUANG: An unemployed man was charged at the Magistrate’s Court here today with the murder of his mother at a house in Felda Ayer Hitam, last week.

Muhammad Hariez Farhan Masrudin, 20, nodded in understanding after the charge was read out before Magistrate Mustaqim Sukarno, but no plea was recorded, as the murder case was under the purview of the High Court.

The third of five siblings is charged with murdering Zarina Jaafar, 47, between 10.45 am and 12.30 pm on Dec 4.

The charge is framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries a death sentence, or imprisonment for not more than 40 years and a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane, if convicted.

The court set Feb 4 for mention of the case, to obtain the post-mortem and chemistry reports.

Deputy public prosecutor Siti Nurfara Fazilun Izylin Ahmad appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was unrepresented.

On Dec 4, the media reported that a woman was found unconscious, believed to have been stabbed in the back by her own son, in an incident in Felda Ayer Hitam, at about 10.45 am.