On 7 November 2018, in Selangor, Malaysia, 11-month-old Nur Muazara Ulfa Mohammad Zainal (10 December 2017 – 9 November 2018), better known by her nickname Zara, was sodomized and raped by her babysitter's husband Hazmi Majid at Pangsapuri Sri Cempaka, Bandar Baru Bangi, and she died two days later at Serdang Hospital due to injuries caused by lethal blunt force trauma.
It was uncovered during police investigations that Hazmi offered to help bathe Zara on the day in question, but he took the chance to sexually assault the baby before killing her.
[6][7] The hospital authorities eventually suspected that the death of Zara was due to a possible crime, given that the medical evidence showed signs of sexual abuse and fatal head injuries, and therefore lodged a police report, and as a result, Zara's 28-year-old babysitter and her 36-year-old husband, a barber, were both arrested immediately on suspicion of causing the death of the baby, for which the case was classified as murder.
Eventually, the suspect confessed that he had bathed the girl on the morning of 7 November 2018, the date of the alleged sexual assault, but he did not admit to any involvement in the murder or rape.
[17] The following week on 28 November 2018, Hazmi once again appeared in court to face two counts of sexually abusing Zara by inserting his finger into the baby's private parts and anus, which attracts the maximum jail term of 30 years with caning for each charge.
Furthermore, there were bruises on Zara's right arm that were consistent with adult bites and teeth marks, which indicated that Hazmi had bitten the girl during the course of the sexual assault.
He found that there was sufficient evidence to prove Hazmi guilty of murdering the baby, and the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt over the prosecution's case.
Before proceeding with the conviction and sentencing stage, Justice Abdul Halim harshly condemned Hazmi for having laid his hands on a harmless, innocent baby girl and he was unable to comprehend the torture and pain which Zara was forced to experience during the final two days of her life.
Regardless, having duly considered the evidence and submissions tendered before him, Justice Abdul Halim found 39-year-old Hazmi Majid guilty of the murder of 11-month-old Zara, and sentenced him to the mandatory death penalty.
[28][29] A month after Hazmi lost his appeal, in April 2023, the Malaysian government officially abolished both natural life imprisonment and the mandatory death penalty.
[50] In response to Jalaluddin's inquiry, Hannah Yeoh, Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, said that it was too early to decide if the parents of Zara should be indicted for negligence or not, given that investigations were ongoing.
Yeoh also called for parents to be more mindful of their children and check for any early warning signs of abuse to prevent any similar incidents from happening in the future.