Malaysian court acquits teenager charged with schoolgirl’s murder due to insanity
The High Court in Shah Alam, Malaysia, on September 14, 2026, acquitted a 15-year-old teenager charged with the murder of a schoolgirl in Selangor state. The court found that he was legally insane at the time of the attack, Channel NewsAsia reports.
Treatment at a psychiatric hospital
At the same time, the court ordered that the teenager be placed at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta in Perak state for treatment. The duration of his stay must be approved by the Sultan of Selangor.
Lawyer Kitson Fung said that the defence invoked Article 84 of Malaysia’s Penal Code on insanity, after which the court recorded an acquittal on that basis. According to the lawyer, the court also accepted the testimony of the hospital’s forensic psychiatry consultant, who confirmed that the teenager suffered from a severe and aggressive form of schizophrenia.
Fung said that because of his mental condition, his client lost his sense of personal identity, believed himself to be a god, heard voices and someone’s commands. According to the lawyer, the prosecution did not object to these findings.
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Attack in Bandar Utama
The attack took place on October 14, 2025, in a girls’ toilet at a secondary school in Bandar Utama. At the time, the accused was in Form 1, while the deceased student was in Form 3.
The boy was charged on October 22, 2025. In January, following a psychiatric assessment, he was found fit to stand trial and defend himself. In February, he pleaded not guilty, and the trial began on August 3. The prosecution called 11 witnesses, while the defence called two, including the teenager himself.
According to local media, Malaysian law prohibits imposing the death penalty on people under the age of 18. It was not reported whether the prosecution would appeal the court’s decision.
