They say that dead men tell no tales, but a competent forensic pathologist can tell us how a man died: the cause of death, both the good and bad effects of the treatment he received, the reasons behind the symptoms shown near the end of his life, and any discrepancies between the pre-mortem and post-mortem results. Facts do not lie. The operative word here is "competent".
Sometimes, it is not just the haze from forest fires that clouds our vision and chokes us. Our politics, and policies with racial and religious undertones, also damage our health and emotional well-being. We lose our ability to reason. We become emotionally intemperate.
While we have the utmost respect for the judiciary and the coroner's court, some of us strongly disagree with the coroner's verdict that states firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim's death was the result of a criminal act by two or three unidentified assailants.
Seafield was teeming with rioters on the night Adib (above) was injured. How was the magic number of two or three reached? Victims of assault are normally cut, bruised and swollen, but Adib's face, arms and torso were relatively blemish-free.
Was this the first time that a government coroner had rejected the findings of a pathologist? Compare Adib's case with previous instances in which the pathologist's report was central to the final outcome.
First. In August 1998, Tualang Puteh, a 40-year-old Jahai Orang Asli, was attacked by a tiger whilst collecting petai in the jungle near Jeli in Kelantan.
A search party found Tualang's mutilated body, a week later. There were bite marks, his severed head and a limb were missing. Scratches on a tree trunk and the pug marks of a tiger were found nearby. Tiger sightings had been reported in the area.
Despite the physical evidence and eye-witness reports, the pathologist suspected foul play and criminal intent. He ruled that Tualang had not been killed by a tiger. Re-classifying Tualang's death meant that his widow and children were ineligible for welfare aid.
Second. Eleven years later, A Kugan (above) died in police custody. The post-mortem report classified his death as sudden death, from water in his lungs.
His family broke into the morgue to seize his body, and his wounds confirmed their suspicions of torture. An independent second autopsy re-classified Kugan's death as murder.
Third. In Teoh Beng Hock's death, a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) found that Teoh had committed suicide.
Rejecting this verdict, Teoh's family demanded a second autopsy, and the Thai pathologist, Dr Porntip Rojanasunand, ruled out suicide and said that Teoh's death was homicide.
Today, no-one has been found guilty, despite a change of government.
Fourth. In 2017, 78-year-old Hendrick Smit was told that his granddaughter, 18-year-old model, Ivana (above), had been found dead at the foot of a 20-storey apartment block in KL.
Displeased with the initial post-mortem results, Smit's family arranged for a second autopsy, conducted by a Dutch pathologist, Frank de Goot. His findings vastly differed from the first post-mortem findings, which failed to detect drugs or injuries sustained prior to the fall.
The failure of our authorities to act professionally, and with speed, has allowed the main suspects, and also Ivana's killers, to escape punishment.
Fifth. Who can forget 11-year-old Mohammad Thaqif Amin Mohd Gaddafi who died in 2017? He had been beaten so severely that he had to be hospitalised, and his legs amputated. He subsequently died.
Thaqif's diary listed the beatings he received from the tahfiz school's assistant warden.
Three weeks after his burial, his body was exhumed for a second autopsy to find the cause of death. His parents had an agonisingly long wait for the results.
The authorities looked for a scapegoat and found one. A rat. The authorities claimed that Thaqif had died from leptospirosis, a disease from rat urine. They failed to explain how Thaqif had contracted this disease; whether from the hospital, his school or his home. There were no reports of a clean-up operation, for rat infestation, at the hospital, school or his home.
So, are Malaysians afraid of facing up to the truth, and any scapegoat, including rodents, will do?
In Malaysia, as in many other Islamic countries, the death of a Muslim can be turned into a political and religious football and can result in a witch hunt. Meanwhile, the authorities hope that the death of a non-Muslim will be ignored. We gain nothing, but a lot of ill will, mistrust and antagonism. Civil servants and professionals who lack integrity erode our confidence in public institutions.
Malaysians must stop living in denial. We must demand that our civil servants act with integrity and accountability. We need people with courage, who will lead by example, be just, transparent and fair.
Did the families of Adib, Thaqif, Tualang, Kugan, and Smit receive justice? No!
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