KOTA KINABALU: The trial of police inspector Ahmad Rizal for murder at the High Court here yesterday heard that the accused and the victim, Kartini Borhan, were having problems before the latter was found murdered three years ago.
Hasnizah Borhan, 32, the elder sister of Kartini, told Justice Chew Soo Ho that Kartini had confided in her that she was having problems with her boyfriend, Inspector Ahmad Rizal Umar, a week before her death..
Ahmad Rizal, 33, who was represented by counsel Ram Singh, allegedly murdered the 27-year-old single mother in her rented room at a house at Taman Adika in Keningau between 4am and 5am on Sept 29, 2011.
He is liable to the mandatory death sentence if found guilty under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
“The last time I met my sister was on Sept 22, 2011, when I went back to Keningau and we had breakfast together at a restaurant near her rented room at Taman Adika,” she said during examination-in-chief by DPP Ahmad Nazneen Zulkifli.
Hasnizah further disclosed that “A week before my sister was killed, I fetched her at Taman Adika, and at that time when we were having our breakfast, we started to talk about his relationship with Ahmad Rizal”.
She felt weird why Ahmad Rizal did not come to their house on their mother’s birthday party which was held on Sept 21, 2011, and Kartini said he had taken leave to go back to his hometown.
“Kartini told me that Ahmad Rizal was taking a two-week leave because he wanted to tell his mother and to discuss face-to-face about a divorce between him and his then wife,” Hasnizah explained.
To a questionm from Ahmad Nazneen, the 11th prosecution witness, explained; “The problem was, Kartini told me that she felt hesitated that Ahmad Rizal would divorce his wife and if it was true that Ahmad Rizal was going to do so, Kartini said that she would agree to be Ahmad Rizal’s wife”.
However, Hasnizah further testified that it did not happen because Ahmad Rizal had not divorced his wife and Kartini wanted to leave him.
“On our last meeting, I also noticed Kartini was behaving differently, I could see that since she was in relationship with Ahmad Rizal, she became less talkative and liked to isolate herself.
But, Hasnizah said she did not ask Kartina what was wrong with her because she felt that she respected it was personal unless Kartini herself talked to her.
She said that even though she was staying in Kota Kinabalu while Kartini was in Keningau, they were still close to each other.
“We frequently met like thrice a month and from that she would tell me her problems,” Hasnizah recalled, adding that from what Kartini had told her it was Ahmad Rizal who was the last person she had problems with.
She further recalled that first time she met Ahmad Rizal was when the accused went to their house on Hari Raya, the year that Kartini was killed.
To another question by Ahmad Nazneen, Hasnizah told the court that Ahmad Rizal came to their house after Kartini asked permission from me to bring her boyfriend (Ahmad Rizal) to their house.
“My response at that time was normal and when I asked her who was Ahmad Rizal, Kartini told me that he was the man she had mentioned to me. When Ahmad Rizal came to our home, we chatted too.
When asked by Ahmad Nazneen whether she knew what was the relationship status between Ahmad Rizal and Kartini, she answered , “Yes, I knew, they were lovers”.
“Kartini had told me that their relationship was more than friends, Kartini said they went together and she also told me about her feelings for Ahmad Rizal.
She further testified that she did went out with them once to an entertainment outlet in Kota Kinabalu also in September, the month Kartini was murdered.
Hasnizah explained that at that time Kartini showed a reaction like “If Ahmad Rizal was serious with me, then I would accept him as my husband”.
“At that time, I saw both of them were really in love, caring, sitting together closely, and that apart from our meeting in Kota Kinabalu, I also met Ahmad Rizal in Keningau.
To another question, she told the court that a man by the name of Ah Heng was Kartini’s former boyfriend.
“I know that they were lovers before because we had gone out together in 2011, about five times. The last time was in March if I’m not mistaken.
“Through my observation, I saw their relationship was casual, because they could be friends and they could also be lovers and they mingled around easily.
Hasnizah also said that she had never seen Ahmad Rizal or Ah Heng quarreled with Kartini.
Another prosecution witness, Lim Guang Heng, who is also known as Ah Heng, testified that Kartini was still his girlfriend during the last time they met, three or four days before she died.
The 42-year-old factory manager said she got to know Kartini at a karaoke outlet in Keningau and she knew he is a married man.
“When was still alive, we were lovers, almost two years and we often met like three to four times a week,” he said and readily admitted to having paid for her room rental as well as giving her money every month.
“I normally gave her RM1,000 a month and sometimes more and I did that from my heart because she was my lover.
“Kartini never forced me to give her money but on our last meeting, I saw something was wrong with her as she looked unhappy,” said Ah Heng during examination-in-chief by Ahmad Nazneen, adding that Kartini complained to him that she needed money as her car was faulty.
To a question from Ahmad Nazneen, he said he knew Ahmad Rizal as police inspector but he did not know Ahmad was having a relationship with Kartini.
Asked by Ahmad Nazneen whether he was jealous if Kartini went out with other men, Ah Heng replied that Kartini only went out with her female friends, and added that he did not know much about Kartini’s private life.
“On the incident day (alleged murder), I was with my wife at the factory’s quarters in Keningau because at that time my wife was there,” Ah Heng responded to another question by Ahmad Nazneen.
He said he came to know about Kartini’s death after being informed by one of his friends at the factory that a woman had been killed at a house that he rented at Taman Adika.
“After that, I tried to call Kartini but my call was not answered. After that I called the second owner of the house who confirmed to me that the woman killed was a tenant of the first room.
“I became panicked and shocked because that was Kartini’s room and I went out to look for friends to ask what I should do.”
Ahmad Nazneen assisted DPP Syaripuddin Abdul Rasa while Counsels Rizwandean Bukhari Borhan and YS Lo assisted Ram.
Ahmad Rizal was remanded further in custody pending disposal of his case.
The trial will resume from August 18 to 22.