Was Sugumar lynched by a racist mob?

YOURSAY 'The victim may have died of a heart attack, which may well be given the circumstances. But what brought on the heart attack?'

'Cops smear turmeric, fatally beat handcuffed guard'

Gerard Lourdesamy: The Star and Sun reported that the deceased allegedly suffered from some mental illness and had run amok with an iron bar. He allegedly destroyed some flower pots, uprooted a few small trees and demolished a burger stall.

The police subdued him with the help of some members of the public but he was aggressive and resisting handcuffing which they later managed to do. Subsequently, the deceased became unconscious and died of an apparent heart attack (he allegedly had a pre-existing heart condition).

Apart from some scratches he had no other bruising. So who threw the turmeric powder on him? Why did it take so long for the ambulance to arrive? Why was the crowd all over the deceased when he had already been handcuffed?

The victim was obviously lynched to death by a racist mob with the police standing by doing nothing to save a sick man just because he destroyed a burger stall. The whole things smells of another cover-up with the connivance of the Serdang Hospital pathologist.

Restless_Native: Whatever the circumstances were with the arrest of the security guard, mob violence must not be condoned.

When this is aided and abetted by the police, then these police officers (who are supposed to follow the ‘innocent until proven guilty' principle) are equally culpable as the mobsters.

Prosecute them to the full extent of the law to serve as an example.

Bmjr: Sugumar Chelliah, 40, may have been violent but he is also said to be mentally ill, so could we have subdued him instead of beating him to death?

Cantabrigian: This is too much. I won't blame the police if they can't catch criminals out there because crime fighting is never easy, but when the police themselves act worse than the criminals, who else could the rakyat place their hope on for their safety and security?

As usual, the government will say, "We will investigate this matter fairly and take action." Yeah, right.

Nil: The victim may have died of a heart attack, which may well be given the circumstances. But what brought on the heart attack?

--------: Notice that PKR lawyers have become like vultures, hanging around and attack as soon as they see a prey. Do they care about the families? No, they care about milking the situation to feed their need to win elections.
Strange, we do not see DAP/PAS running to the police station or hospital. I wonder why?

ACR: In response to -------, Hindraf was at the forefront of pursuing deaths in police custody cases and it so happened that most of the Hindraf-inspired people are in PKR now. For example, S Jayathas was a Hindraf man.

Also some of the young lawyers in PKR are part of the Lawyers For Liberty NGO and they actively take up issues on violation of personal liberty.

DAP's Jagdeep and Gobind Singh too have taken up such cases. Karpal represented Aminulrasyid Amzah (the teen who was shot dead by the police).

It may be inferred that PKR appears to politicise deaths in police custody but what is stopping lawyers from Umno, MIC or MCA from taking up these cases?

They are just not bothered and perhaps, like vultures, await for other issues to pounce on, most of which are half-truths.

Peaceloving: I am sadden with this kind of incident happening every other day in our country. Irrespective of race, every human has the right to be tried in accordance to the law. Human rights NGOs should joint hands and put a stop to this nonsense.

Anak Kedah: Is the police going to classify this as another 'sudden death' case again? This is sudden death caused by severe beating by the police.

Can't the police let the courts decide the guilt and appropriate punishment if indeed the man was guilty of a crime? Our PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) seems to be judge, jury and executioner.

RAW: Whatever the reasons may be for arresting the guard, even if he had committed some crimes, there is absolutely no justification at all in beating him to death, particularly so when he was handcuffed.

Where are the laws of the country? Silly me, I shouldn't have asked. Where can there be any laws when the police who are supposed to enforcing them do not respect them?

DontPlayGod: The torture and killings by the police are going on non-stop. Sometimes I wonder what the IGP (inspector-general of police) and the home minister are doing about them, or are they just turning a blind eye to all these and it's just not worth their time.

Hey, minister, please speak up.

Baiyuensheng: Sadness and hopelessness suddenly engulfed me after reading this. What is happening to our country? And why are there such evil people?

We need answers and solutions fast. The police involved should be punished for the crimes committed. It is no surprise that rakyat do not trust PDRM.

Anonymous#007: This is an open-and-shut case. Two police officers beating a person to death may be debatable. But 10 or 20 beating one person to death is clearly excessive force. Even those who did nothing to stop the beating are accessory to the beating and murder.

Mohd Mazlan Khamis: It is a shame that people do not know their job description. Nobody is authorised to punish anyone, let alone kill. Only the court of law has the power to sentence someone to be punished.

This is murder under custody. It has been going on and it has to stop. The whole world is laughing at us.

Jean Pierre: No matter what the reason, you can't have Indian film style of justice on the streets. What if it were a case of mistaken identity? Can you do a Lazarus on him?

Let reel life not encroach into real life. That will sow the seeds of anarchy. - Malaysiakini