Murder of Zara

On 7 November 2018, in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia, 11-month-old Nur Muazara Ulfa Mohammad Zainal, known as Zara, was left in the care of a babysitter at Pangsapuri Sri Cempaka. The babysitter's 36-year-old husband, Hazmi Majid, offered to bathe the child. During this time he sexually assaulted her and inflicted fatal head injuries. Zara was taken to a clinic and then to Serdang Hospital, where doctors found injuries consistent with sexual assault. She died two days later, on 9 November 2018, from blunt force head trauma. Zara's mother said she had initially been told her daughter choked on an apple.

Hospital staff suspected foul play and reported the case to police. Both the babysitter, 28, and Hazmi Majid, 36, were arrested. The babysitter was later released on bail; Hazmi, who tested positive for methamphetamine, remained in custody. He confessed to bathing Zara on the day in question but denied involvement in the rape or killing.

Hazmi was charged with murder on 23 November 2018. Separately, he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault against Zara and was sentenced in 2018 to a total of 20 years' imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane, later reduced to 13 years on appeal to the High Court. He stood trial for murder at the Shah Alam High Court from January 2020 to April 2021, with the prosecution presenting testimony from 22 witnesses and forensic evidence from pathologist Dr Emizam Mohamadon. Hazmi testified in his own defence, denying the killing and claiming he had been under the influence of drugs.

On 20 August 2021, Justice Datuk Abdul Halim Aman found Hazmi guilty of murder and imposed the mandatory death sentence, which was then required under Malaysian law. The judge condemned the killing as inhumane. Hazmi's appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 1 March 2023. After Malaysia abolished the mandatory death penalty in 2023, Hazmi sought review of his sentence at the Federal Court, where the defence argued for a reduction to 30 years' imprisonment. On 2 July 2024, the Federal Court unanimously rejected the appeal, upholding both the murder conviction and the death sentence, with the prosecution describing the case as among the "rarest of the rare."

The case drew significant public attention in Malaysia, including parliamentary discussion of child-caregiver background checks, and contributed to public debate over the government's plans to abolish the death penalty. Zara's parents buried her in their hometown of Rantau Panjang, Kelantan. As of 2024, Hazmi Majid remains on death row.