The fatal incident occurred while Nursabrina was in her stepfather's care
The judgments record that Nursabrina lived in a Bukit Batok rental flat with her mother, her stepfather Muhammad Salihin bin Ismail and younger twin boys. On September 1, 2018, she was left in Salihin's care while her mother was at work.
The murder charge arose from two incidents that day. The courts found that Salihin used force against Nursabrina's abdomen. She died on September 2. The certified medical cause of death was internal bleeding caused by blunt-force trauma to the abdomen. This page avoids unnecessary graphic detail while preserving the medical finding needed to understand the prosecution.
The High Court did not initially convict Salihin of murder
On March 1, 2022, the High Court acquitted Salihin of the section 300(c) murder charge. The court substituted a conviction for voluntarily causing grievous hurt under section 325 of the Penal Code and later imposed nine years' imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane, backdated to his arrest on September 3, 2018.
Two earlier abuse-related charges were taken into consideration for sentencing. They are part of the procedural record but are not treated as separate murder cases on Crime by Region.
The prosecution appealed the murder acquittal
The prosecution challenged the High Court's legal conclusion. On April 2, 2024, the Court of Appeal allowed that appeal. It held that the evidence established Salihin intended the forceful kick that caused the injury in question and that the legal requirements for murder under section 300(c) were met.
The Court of Appeal therefore convicted Salihin of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane. Its written grounds were issued on July 1, 2024. Because the murder conviction replaced the lesser grievous-hurt result, the competing appeals over the earlier sentence became irrelevant.
Timeline
September 1, 2018: the incidents underlying the murder charge occur in the Bukit Batok flat.
September 2, 2018: Nursabrina dies.
September 3, 2018: Salihin is arrested.
March 1, 2022: the High Court acquits Salihin of murder and substitutes a grievous-hurt conviction.
May 25, 2023: the High Court publishes its detailed grounds of decision.
April 2, 2024: the Court of Appeal allows the prosecution's appeal and convicts Salihin of murder.
July 1, 2024: the Court of Appeal issues its written grounds.
Current status
The murder of Nursabrina Agustiani Abdullah is Solved / Adjudicated. The operative final result is the 2024 Court of Appeal murder conviction and sentence of life imprisonment with 12 strokes. The earlier High Court acquittal on the murder charge is preserved here as procedural history, not presented as the final status.