High Court acquits student in Bandar Utama murder case on schizophrenia finding

Shah Alam, on September 14 — The High Court today acquitted a 15-year-old boy of a murder charge and ruled that he was of unsound mind at the time of the incident. Judge Adlin Abdul Majid ordered the teenager to be admitted to Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak, for a period to be determined by the Sultan of Selangor. The teenager's lawyer, Kitson Foong, stated that the court found his client to be of unsound mind during the time of the alleged murder in October 2025.

Foong informed reporters that the court accepted the testimony of Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, Dr Ian Lloyd Anthony, who confirmed that the teenager was suffering from severe and aggressive schizophrenia. This condition led to the loss of his sense of self and belief that he was a god, as well as the hearing of voices and instructions from an unknown source.

Despite the prosecution's 11 witnesses, the teenager's legal team successfully argued that he should be acquitted under Section 84 of the Penal Code due to insanity. The teenager, who will receive treatment for his disorder, was accused of murdering a fellow student in a female toilet at a Bandar Utama school. Section 97(1) of the Child Act 2001 prohibits the death penalty for individuals under 18, and thus the court ordered detention under Section 97(2) of the same Act.

The proceedings, held in closed court, were conducted in Mandarin, and the teenager's identity remains undisclosed.