4-hr wait for body in van outside hospital

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The body of Mohamad Johari Abu Bakar who was shot on 13 May had to wait for four hours in a parked van before University Malaya Medical Centre finally accepted it late this evening.

“Complete insensitivity,” said an irate Latheefa Koya over the phone just now. “I am shocked,” the lawyer added of the hospital’s delay in accepting the body for a second post-mortem despite a court order obtained this morning. See Star report here.

The boy’s mother Salmah had filed the application after her son was shot by the police behind a budget hotel in Cyber Valley Commercial Centre on 13 May.

The court order was obtained at around 9.00 or 10.00 this morning. The body was released by the Serdang Hospital at around 2.00pm. The van carrying the body arrived at University Hospital at around 3.00pm and the body was finally accepted at 7.00pm.

“I asked the family to take a last look (when the body was finally accepted) and they were very disturbed,” said Latheefa. “The face had ‘melted’ and there was a strong stench.”

She said she had earlier spoken to a top official at the hospital, pointing out the urgency and the fact the family had obtained a court order. But the official responded the hospital had to follow proper procedure.

Meanwhile, the body was left in the unrefridgerated van for four hours.

- anilnetto

Malaysiakini reports:

Body of teen left for hours before 2nd post-mortem Wednesday, May 25 @ 08:09:52 CDT

UMMC staff refuse to place the body in the morgue before a letter of undertaking is given to free the hospital of blame. The body of Johari Abu Bakar, due to turn 17 next month before he was shot dead by police on May 13, was left unpreserved in a van for hours due to bureaucratic reasons. According to his family's lawyer Latheefa Koya, Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) staff refused to place the body in proper refrigeration despite the High Court order earlier today that a second post-mortem be conducted there. Latheefa (right) said the body has been exposed for hours, as it arrived from Serdang Hospital where it was previously held, at 3pm today. At 6.40pm, she said there was a strong smell in the hearse, upsetting the driver. “The staff asked for a letter of undertaking to say that the hospital will not be blamed if there are any damages. “We have been passed from one official to the other, and (the hospital) is currently preparing the paperwork, but they are refusing to take the body into the morgue,” she said when contacted. Latheefa, who is a member of NGO Lawyers for Liberty which deals with human rights cases, said that the usual practice is for hospitals to take the body into the morgue to avoid damage before sorting out the paperwork. The lawyer, who is at the hospital with the teen's family, said that she even warned the hospital staff that they are at risk of committing contempt of court. “The order says that the post-mortem is to be conducted at UMMC and they are responsible for the condition of the body “We have even offered to pay to store the body in the morgue but they did not allow it,” she said. She added that there have been previous cases where second post-mortems were inconclusive as the bodies were not well-preserved. The body was finally allowed into the morgue at 7pm. “The family saw the body another time and were startled to see the decomposed face, and the smell is very strong... it's really upsetting,” Latheefa said. 'Suspicious injuries' Earlier, the Shah Alam High Court ordered a second post-mortem be conducted at UMMC in the presence of an independent observer. Police claimed that Johari, a secondary school drop-out turned odd job worker, was shot dead after he opened fire at police. They also claimed that the teen was hiding out in a budget hotel in Dengkil after stealing a Toyota Alphard in Kelana Jaya on May 7. His family is, however, suspicious of the circumstances of his death, claiming that the boy's body showed signs of bruising and that his arm was broken. They hope to bury their son by tomorrow morning.