A 55-year-old mother of 9 was sentenced to death by hanging over possessing around 4 ounces of meth

A Malaysian single mother of nine was given a death sentence over drug-trafficking-related charges. Naruecha Jenthaisong/Getty Images
A mother of nine from Malaysia was sentenced to death for trafficking-related offenses.

Hairun Jalmani (55) was charged with possessing approximately 4 ounces meth in 2018.

Three people were executed in Malaysia last year over drug-trafficking-related crimes.

Malaysian authorities handed down the death sentence to a mother of nine aged 55 years for possessing meth.

According to local media outlets, Free Malaysia Today reported that Hairun Jalmani was sentenced at the Tawau High Court of Sabah on October 15. According to the news outlet, Jalmani was a single mother who had been selling fish for a living and was charged with possessing 113.9g (or 4 ounces) of methamphetamine.

In the US, it is a crime to possess meth. However, if you are caught with more that 50 grams of meth and the intent to distribute it, your sentence could be as long as 10 years. Death sentences for drug-related offenses are not uncommon in Southeast Asia. After being found with 2 pounds cannabis, a man in Singapore received the death penalty.

TikTok was circulated by See Hua Daily, which is a news source covering Sabah. It shows Jalmani in tears while she is being taken out of court by a police officer. The video shows Jalmani crying and asking for help.

If more than 50 grams are found in Malaysia, anyone caught with the drug is presumed to have been trafficking it. Amnesty International Malaysia stated that Jalmani was indicted under a section which carries a mandatory death penalty.

"Hairun's chances of success in life were stacked against him." Amnesty International Malaysia tweeted that she was a single mother living in the poorest state of Malaysia trying to support nine kids. "Her case shows how Malaysia's death penalty penalizes the poor, with special discriminations against women."

Amnesty International reported that three Malaysians were executed last year for drug-trafficking offenses.

Insider has the original article.