23 March 2009 :

a bus driver convicted in a murder and rape of computer engineer in 2000, was hanged at the Kajang prison in Selangor. A prison spokesperson confirmed that Hanafi Mat Hassan, 40, was hanged at 6.05am. Kajang Hospital also confirmed the time of death and that his body had been collected by his relatives from Kampung Renik, Bachok, Kelantan. Hanafi lost his appeal at the Federal Court on Dec 12, 2006. A five-member bench led by former chief justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad upheld the decision. "After deliberating on the matter, we reached a unanimous decision to dismiss the appeal and uphold both the conviction and sentence," the federal judge said in his oral judgment. There are also no questions of law in this case," Abdul Hamid said. Hanafi was handed the death sentence and also 20 years jail and 12 strokes of the rotan by the Shah Alam High Court on April 25, 2002. He was found guilty of murdering and raping 24-year-old Noor Suzaily Mukhtar on October 7, 2000. Despite the whipping sentence for rape being affirmed by the Federal Court, it is unlikely that the strokes was implemented. "If I had the chance, I would have wanted to be the person who presses the switch to hang him when the orders were given." These were the words of Mukhtar Ibrahim, 63, the father of Noor Suzaily.
"I am no one and in no position to forgive him (Hanafi). Only God can forgive him," said a tearful Mukhtar at his house in Taman Suraini yesterday. "However, I am grateful to God that justice has taken place, even if only after a long time.”