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KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — An unemployed 19-year-old youth was charged in the Kuantan Magistrate's Court today with the murder of a female polytechnic student at a rented house in Air Putih last week

F. Alan Stevekumar nodded and replied "faham" (understand) after the murder charge was read to him through an interpreter before Magistrate Tuan Ruzuaini Tuan Lah, NST reported.

No plea was recorded from the accused, as capital murder offences fall under the exclusive trial jurisdiction of the High Court.

According to the charge sheet, Alan, who is originally from Perak, is accused of murdering 19-year-old M. Elisa Jonova between 4.32am and 4.55am on Oct 6 at a residence along Jalan Air Putih 2 in Taman Pauline, Kuantan.

The charge was framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years, alongside not less than 12 strokes of the cane if the death penalty is not handed down upon conviction.

Clad in a black T-shirt, red shorts, and a face mask, the teenager sat under close police escort in the public gallery before proceedings commenced.

Pahang prosecution director Mohd Sabri Othman appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was unrepresented.

Sabri requested an adjournment to enable the prosecution to obtain and review the victim's completed post-mortem and toxicology reports.

Magistrate Tuan Ruzuaini fixed Nov 12 for case mention.

The victim, a student at Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Polytechnic (Polisas), was discovered unconscious on a bed in her rented room early on Oct 6, with police confirming pressure marks on her neck and establishing that she was strangled following a domestic dispute