PUTRAJAYA: Rambo Bentong is set to hang after the Court of Appeal upheld his death sentence in the murder of a 17-year-old girl.
The panel, led by Justice Aziah Ali, unanimously rejected the appeal by Rambo Bentong – whose real name is Rabidin Satir – saying that his conviction was “safe”.
Justice Aziah said yesterday that there was only one issue for appeal – a question on the validity of the DNA evidence.
Rabidin’s lawyer Suzanawati Ismail had submitted that the DNA evidence was questionable since it was collected in 2009 but only compared against her client in 2012 after his arrest.
However, DPP Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi argued that the High Court had addressed issues in the DNA evidence and found that there was no cause for doubt.
The Court of Appeal panel, which included Justices Rohana Yusuf and Prasad Sandhosham Abraham, disagreed with the defence and affirmed the High Court’s decision.
Rabidin appeared calm when his sentence was read out.
Rabidin, who hails from Tambunan, Sabah, was convicted of murdering the teenager in March 2009 at 1.50pm at a village in Bentong.
The serial rapist had also been sentenced to 115 years in prison and 50 lashes on Feb 5, 2013, after he pleaded guilty to four counts of rape and one count of committing unnatural sex between 2009 and 2011.
Following an appeal, however, the sentence was reduced to 40 years in jail and 24 strokes of the cane.
Rabidin, 43, earned his notorious nickname as he lived in the jungle in Bentong and his preferred choice of weapon to threaten and attack his victims was a bowie knife, made popular in the Rambo movies.
On Aug 6 last year, the Temerloh High Court had sentenced Rabidin to hang for murdering the girl in 2009.
At the time, Justice Ab Karim Ab Rahman said the bloodstains on the victim’s clothes matched that of the accused, while the DNA profile retrieved from her private parts matched that of Rabidin.
– The Star
