ALOR SETAR: An 18-year-old teen found dead in bushes near Jalan Harvard in Sungai Petani on Oct 8 was held captive for two days, tortured and had his hair cut before being beaten to death and dumped by the roadside.
Kedah police chief Datuk Adzli Abu Shah said police were alerted to the discovery of the dead body at 8.05am on Thursday.
He said the body was sent to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital forensic department for a post-mortem.
"The post-mortem found that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head
"Investigations also found that the incident arose from the main suspect's anger after residents complained that the victim had stolen a motorcycle," he said at a press conference.
Adzli said police arrested 14 men, aged between 16 and 24, in Gurun and Guar Chempedak between noon and 10.30pm on the same day.
He said police also seized 14 mobile phones of various brands, a silver Honda City, a pair of scissors and an identity card believed to belong to the victim.
Adzli said only one of the 14 suspects had a previous criminal record, involving a drug-related offence.
He said 12 suspects had been remanded for six days until Wednesday, while two underage suspects were remanded for five days until tomorrow to facilitate investigations.
"The victim, aged 18, was accused of stealing a motorcycle belonging to one of the suspects, although no police report had been lodged.
"The suspects took matters into their own hands, apprehending the victim in Pendang on Oct 5 and taking him to a house in Gurun, where he was held for two days.
"During those two days, the victim was beaten and tortured, and his hair was cut. He was eventually found dead on the night of Oct 7.
"They then dumped his body by the roadside the following day, before the public discovered the body at 8am," he said.
Adzli said the scissors seized by police were believed to have been used to cut the victim's hair, but the blunt object used in the assault had yet to be found.
He said investigations found that no police report had been lodged over the motorcycle theft.
He said the case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
Section 302 of the Penal Code carries the death penalty or a jail term of between 30 and 40 years, and not fewer than 12 strokes of the rotan upon conviction.
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