Is it police SOP to beat Indians in custody?

YOURSAY 'The norm now seems to be that they can beat Indian detainees to death without any action being taken against them.'

49 injuries found on custodial death victim Karuna

Cala: Another Indian died while under police custody, and as usual, the police have vehemently denied that they had beaten P Karuna Nithi.

What I cannot understand is this - Karuna was not involved in any fight or involved in any criminal activity. He handed himself in at the police station after a family quarrel.

So is it the SOP of the police to beat anybody who makes his presence in the police station?

Toffeesturn: I think the police should first arrest all officers who were involved in P Karuna Nithi's detention on suspicion of murder, before any of them run away and can't be found as has happened in another recent case of custodial death, N Dhamendran's, instead of worrying too much about Black 505 rally this Saturday.

The danger is really in their midst. Negri Sembilan chief police officer (CPO) Osman Salleh had come up to say there was no injury and no foul play. He said, "We have never beaten him up."

However, the Tengku Jaafar Hospital forensic consultant Dr Sharifah Safoorah's report states that there were bruises caused by a blunt object on the chest and limbs, which contradicted what the CPO had said.

I think in fact what the new deputy minister P Waythamoorthy should do is encourage all Indians to attend Black 505 rally now that he is unable to do anything to help the Indians despite being part of Najib Razak's cabinet.

TehTarik: The autopsy conclusion is bullshit. Fatty liver does not cause death due to hypoglycaemia and electrolyte imbalances. It is severe alcoholic hepatitis that may cause death. In severe alcoholic hepatitis, the patient is deeply jaundiced and has been ill for some time.

The lawyers for Karuna should seek the assistance of a hepatologist to refute the conclusions of the forensic doctor.

NuckinFuts: Just about every unfit person here in Malaysia is walking around with a fatty liver; that is probably just an incidental finding at P Karuna Nithi's autopsy. How can that be a cause of death?

Ex Malayan: Fatty liver is present in most Malaysians today but I haven't come across fatty liver as a cause of death in the 20 years that I have been a doctor. This pathologist has tried to find a middle ground. Come on doctor, come clean and have a clear conscience.

Tel: I am a physician and fatty liver cannot cause sudden death. You can go and Google if you do not know medicine. It looks to me like torture and police brutality is the cause of death.

Fairplayer: The pathologist's speculations aside, must the police murder detainees who are awaiting bail?

Inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar, Prime Minister Najib Razak and Home Minister Zahid Hamidi must answer or be damned. All the idiots who voted in the minority BN government are equally guilty of condoning such murders.

Siang Malam: Well, IGP Khalid also said he found a ‘parang' in the car driven by the teenager Aminulrasyid Amzah, who was shot dead by the police in Shah Alam, when he was the Selangor CPO - which were all proven to be lies.

An old Malaysian: I wonder how many more Indians have to die in police lock-ups before real action is taken against this kind of ‘genocide'.

All these killings by the PDRM (Royal Malaysia Police) happened under the watch of the new IGP. Is this a coincidence, or is this premeditated?

Abasir: What is a bigger waste of time is the ‘MIC'key-mouse politicians sitting in Parliament and not doing anything for the Indian community.

Have any of you spoken to defend the rights of Indian men murdered in police lock-ups? Have you ever addressed the declining rate of Indian graduates in university?

The MIC is the biggest impediment to the progress of rural Indians in this country. Your Tamil drama politics is over, Deputy Minister M Saravanan.

The only reason you won your seat in Parliament is because you and your party have kept the rural Indians subservient to the government and have not taught them to be independent or to think for themselves.

MIC's days of keeping Indians stupid are over. They will rise and they will run you over.

Bamboo: These licensed thugs in the name of the police have been brainwashed as the ‘tuans' (masters). They dare to beat detainees to death because there isn't any mechanism like the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to check their acts.

The norm now seems to be that they can beat Indian detainees to death without any action being taken against them.

Saintonthego: The majority of the police personnel are law abiding and professional. However, when they are led by leaders who are unprofessional, racist, who tell lies, act like gangsters, or who think they are the law instead of acting for the law, what do you expect the followers do?

Our police chiefs only talk about regaining the trust of the people, but they need to walk the talk. Until then, the people just see the police as a tool for Umno and not the people.

Amoker: Truly tragic for the family when details like this autopsy comes out. How can the detainees be deprived of food? This is inhumane.

Malaysiawatch4: So what does the deputy IGP have to say about this? He should be censured by lawmakers for opposing the IPCMC.

Restless_Native: Our police force is unwittingly becoming just like the South African apartheid police before Nelson Mandela's rise.

The South African police then were notorious for ‘died in detention cases' and almost all of them were claimed to be of ‘suicide' or ‘trying to escape'. Soon, it became too often and too much to ignore.

The same is happening with the Malaysian police. The more I look at things, the more Malaysian is a mirror image of the South African regime during apartheid.

Maybe A Kugan, C Sugumar and Karuna will be our Steve Bikos, and finally raise our collective consciousness to make an effective change to this apartheid regime in Malaysia.

Imraz Ikhbal: Yet another death of an Indian detainee. I am beginning to lose count already. So to all my Indian brethren who supported Hindraf and BN in the last elections, happy with your choice now?

Verily, we shall all reap the fruits of the seeds we sow, and the nation most deserves the government we collectively vote. - Malaysiakini