Hindraf: Body at mortuary, no sign of inquest

The grandmother of deceased asked for the post mortem report but has not been given one.

KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi has expressed surprise that despite a request by the solicitors for the grandmother of a deceased, Shashikumar Selvam , the Attorney General was silent and has not responded on the request to hold an inquest although Section 339 of the CPC provides him wide powers to do so.

“The new Practice Direction does state that inquests must be held for all detention deaths and suspicious deaths falling under Section 329 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.”

Detainee Shashikumar died at the Kluang prison on 22 May 2015. “The grandmother requested for a copy of the post mortem report but has not been provided one.”

“It has been 11 days since the body of Shashikumar has been lying at the mortuary,” lamented Hindraf Chairman P. Waytha Moorthy, a lawyer in private practice. “The CPC provides for bodies to be exhumed if foul play was suspected in the cause of an inquest.”

“In this case the body has not been cremated thus the urgent need to hold the inquest to find out the truth.”

He stressed that it was not sufficient for the Police or the Prisons Department to issue a statement that there was no foul play. “Neither the Public Prosecutor nor the Coroners Court issued any statement on the matter.”

There are questions, he pointed out, that need answers:

Why would a 22 year old youth want to commit suicide?

Was there any form of intimidation, bullying, pressure etc by inmates?

How could someone hang himself with clothing that was provided by prison authorities?

Were there enough rehabilitation programmes for those in custody?

Section 337 of the CPC provides that the Magistrate holding an inquest may inquire whether any person was criminally involved in the cause of the death, he added. “The pertinent questions could be answered if an inquest was held. Those findings may assist in improving the prison system and prevent any untoward incidents in the future.”

“The grandmother of Shashikumar needs answers and has enlisted Hindraf to campaign on her behalf to get to the bottom of this episode.”

She accepts a life has been lost but wants to know the truth that led to the death, said Waytha.

The grandmother of Shashikumar had on 25 May 2015 lodged a police report that she suspects foul play in the death of her grandson who was serving a 10 year sentence for theft of rice and sardine.

The Prisons Department and the Police issued statements that an investigation has been conducted and there was no foul play.

Hindraf, in response, reiterated several points: the grandmother of the deceased does not believe he hanged himself on the air vent grille of the cell; the deceased had written letters to her from prison which indicated he was not stressed and had no cause to take his life; and the grandmother, like many Malaysians, does not have confidence in the independence of the police and Prisons Department to conduct investigations into deaths in custody.

“It must be conducted by an independent body,” said Waytha. “The grandmother earnestly believes something was amiss in the death of Sasikumar and wants an inquest to be held as requested.”

Again, she made the request in her police report and through her lawyers Messrs Karthig Shan and Associates in Seremban.