‘Ex-med student fights for gullible husband’

The wife of an EO detainee who claims to be a former medical student believes that her husband has been framed.

KUALA LUMPUR: She was a bright student who purportedly scored 13A1s in her SPM examination and spent two years pursuing a medical degree in University Malaya.

But due to circumstances, V Santakumari claimed that she had to sacrifice her dream of becoming a doctor and resorted to collecting scrap metal and other recyclable items with her husband to make ends meet.

And now the 26-year-old mother of two, whose five-year-old son is a chronic heart patient, is fighting for her husband, whom she described as someone gullible and easily deceived.

K Navinkumar, 31, was detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) for his alleged involvement in the hijacking of a lorries but his wife is certain that he was framed. He was arrested in May.

Santakumari turned to the Human Rights Party (HRP) for help, and its leader P Uthayakumar had penned a letter to Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

Among others, the letter called for Navinkumar’s immediate release similar to the six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leaders, whose arrest led to widespread criticism of the EO which provides for detention without trial.

Speaking to FMT, Uthayakumar said the arrest of the six drew international condemnation but numerous others were forced to suffer in silence because they were not prominent individuals.

“This is simply not fair,” stressed the lawyer, who himself was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) without trial after leading a massive street protest in 2007.

The EO had often been criticised as a convenient weapon in the police’s arsenal to throw suspected criminals behind bars without having to do the paperwork needed to charge them in court.

‘Police colluding with real culprits’

Uthayakumar also alleged that Navinkumar was abused during detention, including being burnt with cigarettes.

He also believes that the police had colluded with the real culprits to turn his client into a scapegoat.

The letter stated that due to financial constraints, Navinkumar, who hails from Ipoh, started working with a scrap metal dealer.

“He was asked to send his boss’ mother to the hospital for her check-ups and to take her to visit her other son at the Taiping prison. Sometimes, he was asked to deliver lorries to clients and was paid between RM30 and RM40 a day.

“On other days, he worked full-time collecting scrap metal. The local police knew this,” read the letter dated Aug 10.

Uthayakumar claimed that when the police detained Navinkumar’s employer, the man had implicated his client.

Following this, the employer’s business partners had urged Navinkumar to flee the state but the latter refused, because he had done nothing wrong.

The business partners were purportedly worried that if Navinkumar was arrested it would hamper efforts to secure the employer’s release.

But due to continued pressure, Uthayakumar said his client and his wife had become confused and went to Banting, Selangor, to stay with an acquaintance there.

The couple however returned home because they missed their children and resumed with their old job of collecting scrap metal and recyclable items.

While Navinkumar was later arrested, Uthayakumar said his client’s employer walked free after spending a mere three weeks under EO detention.

He alleged that Navinkumar had been physically abused by the police in order to extract a confession, but his client had refused to do so because he was innocent.

The letter also quoted one Inspector Vellu as telling Navinkumar that he was certain that the latter was innocent but his employer had submitted a petition which pinned all the blame on him.

No suspicious transactions

Uthayakumar also said that his investigation showed that Navinkumar had no savings and there were no records of suspicious transactions in his account.

“In fact, he defaulted on his house and car loans resulting in him being blacklisted. If he was the head of a hijacking syndicate, he would surely be leading a comfortable life,” read the letter.

Uthayakumar also stated that Navinkumar was unable to fork out the money needed to finance his wife’s education.

Pressed on the veracity of the claim that Santakumari was a former medical student, the HRP leader said: “I know it sounds unbelievable but I am convinced.”

Asked if he had seen the records, Uthayakumar said he had requested for it but the documents were currently in Santakumari’s mother-in-law’s house and there was some family misunderstanding.

“But I don’t see why she should lie about this and if you watch the video on the HRP website, you can see for yourself,” he added.

Uthayakumar also said that Santakumari did not secure a better job because she needed the flexibility to take care of her sick child.