RMN officer denies assaulting Soosaimanicckam during training

 

A Royal Malaysian Navy officer today said he squatted close to J Soosaimanicckam and tried to encourage him during press-ups. (X pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: 

A Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) officer denied in the sessions court here today that he sat on cadet J Soosaimanicckam’s stomach and slapped him repeatedly during a training session at KD Sultan Idris, Lumut.

Abdul Ariff Abdul Halim, 29, a lieutenant, denied these allegations during cross-examination by lawyer Zaid Malek, representing Soosaimanicckam’s father S Joseph in a lawsuit against 11 defendants, including navy officers, the RMN chief, the armed forces council, the defence minister and the government.

Zaid questioned Ariff about his witness statement from May 18, 2018, suggesting that he had indeed sat on Soosaimanicckam and assaulted him.

Ariff denied these claims, asserting that he did not sit on or hit Soosaimanicckam. He also denied shouting or scolding him.

Former RMN cadet Anas Hakimi Mat previously testified that he saw an officer, identified as Ariff, sitting on Soosaimanicckam’s stomach and repeatedly slapping him.

Ariff, during his testimony, said on May 18, 2018, he was on duty and responsible for overseeing the physical training of graduate cadet officers. He noticed that Soosaimanicckam was not doing his press-ups.

I approached Soosaimanicckam, sat behind him in a half-squat position, patted his shoulders a few times and lifted him slightly to encourage him to continue the exercise,

 Ariff said during the Zoom court session today.

Ariff, the eighth defence witness, currently attending a nautical cartographer course at the Dalian Naval Academy in China, said he never spoke to Soosaimanicckam and only knew him as a cadet.

Meanwhile, medical officer Dr S Saravanan told the court that the post-mortem revealed signs of pulmonary oedema (fluid in the lungs) and that Soosaimanicckam’s lungs were heavier than normal.

“Pulmonary oedema can cause death rapidly if there is failure of crucial organs like the heart, liver, kidneys or lungs.

In this case, I believe the lung failure caused by an infection led to Soosaimanicckam’s sudden death,

 he said.

Saravanan, forensic medicine unit head at Seri Manjung Hospital, Perak, also denied claims by the plaintiff’s lawyer, Latheefa Koya, that he lacked qualifications in forensic pathology.

I have extensive experience managing post-mortem cases at the hospital,

 the witness said.

Judge Idah Ismail set Nov 28 for the verdict.

In the lawsuit filed on May 19, 2021, Soosaimanicckam’s family alleged that the defendants were negligent by failing to provide emergency medical treatment when he collapsed and by not properly monitoring his health during the training session.

On July 29, the High Court ruled that Soosaimanicckam’s death was a homicide, attributing it directly to the actions of navy officers, responsible for cadet training, denying him medical treatment. - FMT