A former sugarcane seller escaped the gallows when the Federal Court commuted the death sentence to 40 years in jail for the murder of Indonesian maid Muntik Bani, 15 years ago.

The three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat unanimously handed the sentence to A Murugan, 50, after allowing the appeal from the accused and ordered the sentence to start from Oct 21, 2009.

“The court set aside the death sentence