File photo of armed policemen outside the Serdang Hospital mortuary on January 24, 2013 where the remains of Sugumaran are kept. — Picture by Choo Choy May
Lawyers representing the deceased's family said this morning University Hospital (UH) had prohibited Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand from performing the second postmortem despite the Health Ministry's written approval yesterday.
The hospital said it needed an approval letter from the police before allowing the Thai forensic pathologist's post-mortem on the security guard, who allegedly died from a police beating, after meeting ministry officials.
"We are satisfied with the first autopsy report so why should I issue the second letter. It's them who are dissatisfied with the first report. I've given the approval to them to do whatever they want to do with the body so pandai-pandai la," Abdul Rashid told The Malaysian Insider.
The Kajang police chief added that he had informed the lawyers to apply for a court order to get UH to allow Dr Pornthip to conduct the new autopsy.
One of the lawyers, N. Surendran, claimed UH's request for police's approval was done under the instruction of Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai which he described as an attempt to "sabotage" the process.
"Consistent with Liow's position, the family has received a letter today, 7/2/13, from University Hospital, refusing the request for the second autopsy unless there is written instruction from the police. This is shocking and disappointing, and blatant sabotage of attempts to get the second autopsy done," the lawyer said in statement today.
Surendran pointed out that there was no legal requirement for the police to instruct a second autopsy.
Liow, his deputy and the ministry were not available for comment despite several attempt to contact them.
The lawyer, also the vice-president for opposition party PKR, described the bureaucratic process as a "typical" tactic employed to discourage victims from pursuing justice.
"It is entirely within the powers of the health minister to issue the order to any government hospital to carry out the second autopsy. Why is Minister Liow Tiong Lai still refusing to do so?" he said, adding that now, there is no certainty that Dr Pornthip will be allowed to carry out the second autopsy.
Dr Pornthip is the same forensic pathologist who observed Teoh Beng Hock's second post-mortem and testified at a royal inquiry that foul play was likely involved in the DAP aide's mysterious death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's Selangor headquarters in Shah Alam in 2009.
Several witnesses, who saw Sugumaran collapse on a street near his home in Batu 12, Hulu Langat on January 23, have accused the policemen who arrested him of beating up the man, together with the help of a mob, after he was handcuffed.
The police have denied the allegations, pointing out that the initial post-mortem by Serdang Hospital showed that Sugumaran had died of a heart attack.
Sugumaran's death joins a list of other alleged police killings like the custodial deaths of Chang Chin Te earlier this year as well as A. Kugan and R. Gunasegaran in 2009; the deadly police shooting of 14-year-old schoolboy Aminulrasyid Amzah in 2010; and various other fatal police shootings in the past two years.
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