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

• A Malaysian mother of nine was given the death sentence for death trafficking-related charges.
• Hairun Jalmani, 55, was charged in 2018 for possessing around four ounces of meth.

A 55-year-old mother of nine was given the death sentence in Malaysia for possessing meth.

According to news reports from the local media outlet Free Malaysia Today, Hairun Jalmani was handed the sentence at the Tawau High Court in Sabah on October 15. The news outlet reported that Hairun, a single mother who sold fish for a living, was charged for possessing 113.9 grams - or 4 ounces - of methamphetamine in 2018.

It is a felony to possess meth in the US, too, though convictions instead involve jail terms of 10 years and up if one is caught with more than 50 grams of meth, with the intent to distribute the drugs. However, death sentences for drug-related crimes are not uncommon in Southeast Asia - a man in Singapore was recently given the death penalty after he was found with two pounds of cannabis.

A video that appears to show Hairun crying while being escorted out of a courtroom by a policewoman was circulated on TikTok by Seehua Daily, a Sabah-based news outlet. During the video, Hairun can be heard crying out and asking how her children will be cared for after her death, while the policewoman tells her to calm down.

Anyone caught with more than 50 grams of methamphetamine in Malaysia is presumed to be trafficking the drug unless evidence is provided to prove otherwise, per the country's Dangerous Drugs Act. According to human rights group Amnesty International Malaysia, Hairun was charged under a section of the act that carries a mandatory death penalty.

"Hairun's life chances were stacked against her. She was a single mother in Malaysia's poorest state trying to support nine children," Amnesty International Malaysia said in a tweet. "Her case is an example of how Malaysia's death penalty punishes the poor with particular discriminations against women."

Amnesty International also noted a report that three people were executed in Malaysia last year on drug trafficking charges.