A 15-year-old Malaysian boy has been acquitted of murdering his 16-year-old schoolmate after the High Court in Shah Alam found that he was legally insane at the time of the fatal stabbing.
Judge Adlin Abdul Majid ruled on Monday, September 14, that the defence had successfully established the insanity defence under Section 84 of Malaysia’s Penal Code. The prosecution was unable to rebut the defence.
The teenager, who was 14 at the time of the incident, had been accused of fatally stabbing the schoolgirl in a girls’ toilet at SMK Bandar Utama Damansara 4 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, on October 14, 2025.
Because he was a minor, his identity has not been disclosed and the proceedings were held behind closed doors under Malaysia’s child-protection laws.
Defence lawyer Kitson Foong said the court accepted evidence from Dr Ian Lloyd Anthony, a forensic psychiatrist at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, that the teenager was suffering from severe schizophrenia at the time of the killing.
The psychiatrist’s evidence indicated that the boy experienced hallucinations and delusions, including hearing voices and believing that he was God. The defence argued that his mental condition meant he was not of sound mind and could not understand the nature or wrongfulness of his actions.
“The court accepted that the accused was not of sound mind during the incident,” Foong said after Monday’s proceedings, adding that the prosecution had failed to disprove the defence’s case.
The lawyer stressed that the central issue before the court was not whether the teenager had carried out the physical act, but whether he was mentally capable of being held criminally responsible for it.
The prosecution called 11 witnesses during the trial, while the defence called two, including the teenager and the psychiatrist.
Although acquitted of murder, the teenager has not simply been released.
The High Court ordered that he be detained at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta in Perak for psychiatric treatment, including medication and counselling.
He is expected to remain in psychiatric care until medical authorities determine that he is fit to return to society. Any eventual release will require the appropriate approval under the court’s order.
Foong said the judge also cautioned the teenager about the seriousness of the offence and reminded him not to take his opportunity for rehabilitation for granted.
The teenager was charged with murder after the October 2025 incident at the Bandar Utama school.
He pleaded not guilty in February 2026 after the charge was read to him in Mandarin. The prosecution subsequently called witnesses including students, teachers, the victim’s mother, a pathologist and a senior investigating officer.