Family wants case probed as murder, cops involved suspended

S Balamurugan’s family has sent a memorandum to the Bukit Aman police headquarters today to demand the immediate suspension of police officers involved in his death.

According to lawyer Raul Lee Bhaskaran, the family is also asking for a team independent of Bukit Aman to investigate the case, and for the case to be classified as murder.

“They are being investigated, but the cops are not suspended. They are still on duty, (the police) are taking this a bit too lightly for everyone’s comfort,” said Raul.

The memorandum was handed to Bukit Aman's corporate communications head Asmawati Ahmad by Klang MP Charles Santiago, who was speaking on behalf of the family.

“Today we have a wife without a husband, a daughter without a father, and a family without an elder son. Now this is treachery,” said Charles.

Balamurugan was arrested on 6 Feb and passed away in police custody the following day.

He was taken to court on the day of his passing, where he vomited blood and the magistrate asked the police to take him to the hospital, then have him released.

However, the police did not send him to the hospital and he subsequently passed away later that day.

The findings of a post-mortem on the victim suggested he died of heart failure, but the family is not satisfied with the findings.

Lawyers have filed an application for a second post-mortem to be conducted, as there were apparent bruises on his body and he was sporting a black eye when he entered court.

The application for a second post-mortem will be heard at the Shah Alam High Court tomorrow morning.

It was filed at the court by law firm Daim & Gamany yesterday, where the family members sought to have the procedure done at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

Following this, they requested the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang to release the body to be sent to HKL.

They also wanted any reports related to the first and second post-mortem to be submitted to the family's lawyers or to be determined by the court.

The application was made by Balamurugan's younger brother Balraj.

The grounds for the application were that various injuries were found on Balamurugan's body, his eyes were bruised and he was vomiting blood when he was given water.

Furthermore, two other inmates who were detained with Balamurugan told lawyers that police assaulted them, but Balamurugan was badly hit and kicked at.

Bahraj said the family could not accept the result of the first post-mortem which cited the cause of death was heart failure.

"A second post-mortem would help determine the truth and give justice to the family," he said.-Mkini