One of seven accused in Kevin Morais murder case escapes death sentence

KUALA LUMPUR: One of the seven accused charged with the murder of the late deputy public prosecutor Datuk Kevin Morais escaped the death sentence after he pleaded guilty today to a lesser charge of hiding Morais' body and disposing his vehicle.

G. Gunasekaran, 48, was freed from the murder charge and he is expected to testify in Morais' murder trial as a prosecution witness tomorrow.

Sessions Court judge Azian Othman jailed Gunasekaran for two years from the date of his arrest on Sept 15, 2015, after he pleaded guilty.

Gunasekaran was charged with hiding Morais' body and disposing a vehicle with the number plate WA 6264Q with intention to protect S. Ravichandran, 35, S. Nimalan, 23 A. Thinesh Kumar, 23, M. Vishwanath, 26, R. Dinishwaran, 24, and R. Kunaseegaran, 23, from legal punishment.

The charge is under Section 201 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum of seven years jail with a fine.

Deputy public prosecutor Saiful Hazmi Mohd Saad asked for a punishment which could reflect the seriousness of the offence.

Gunasekaran's lawyer Mr Ramesh Sivakumar, of Goik Ramesh & Loo, said his client studied mechanical engineering at a local university and was married with two children.

"After knowing more about Morais' personality, the accused regrets and is sad over his death. For the information of the court, the accused did not know Morais and has no problem with him," said Ramesh.

"What has happened is beyond his control. In fact, the accused was not with Morais at the time Morais died," said Ramesh, adding that Gunasekaran did not have any intention to kill Morais.

"The fact is the accused was not involved with the murder of Morais and his involvement was limited to disposing the body after Morais had died," said Ramesh.

He said Gunasekaran is a first offender and asked for the accused to be jailed for two years from the date of arrest.

The trial continues tomorrow.