A lawyer representing the family of Dr Shintumathi Mutusamy, who died under suspicious circumstances nearly three years ago, was ejected from the Shah Alam Coroner’s Court earlier today.
The lawyer, Zaid Malek, was ordered to leave the courtroom after coroner Rasyihah Ghazali rejected repeated requests for access to documents related to the inquest, which began today and is scheduled to run until May 8.
According to Zaid’s co-counsel, Mahajoth Singh, counsels for the family had informed the court during the start of today’s proceedings that two formal requests for the documents had been submitted to the inquest’s conducting officer.
However, the lawyers had not received any response to the requests dated April 15 and May 4.
“When the first witness was called (during the inquest today), he referred to pictures of the crime scene. I asked the coroner for a copy of the document, and the court said it will only be shown after his testimony is given,” Mahajoth told Malaysiakini.
“Zaid then highlighted to the court that the documents are required for counsels to follow proceedings, and referred to the practice direction on inquests as well as case laws determining that the court should always favour disclosure during proceedings.
“The court, however, declined to hear Zaid’s submissions,” Mahajoth added.
Zaid then attempted to clarify if lawyers for Shintumathi’s family are being denied access to the documents, following which Rasyihah “abruptly ordered” him to leave the courtroom immediately.
He was escorted out of the courtroom by security personnel, after which his other co-counsels - Mahajoth, Purshotaman, and Reenajit Kaur Golen - also walked out of the courtroom.
The inquest proceedings, where deputy public prosecutor Rinisha Priyya Kuna Sakar acted as the conducting officer, were understood to have continued without their presence.
‘Suspicious and unnatural circumstances’
In October last year, Malaysiakini reported that the Coroner’s Court had agreed to begin an inquest into Shintumathi’s 2023 death, following 28 police reports and multiple appeals to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
According to a post-mortem, Shintumathi was determined to have died due to “inhalation asphyxia by compressed gas and plastic bag”, with her body found in her room at a condominium complex in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
However, in a Sept 3 letter to Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar, Mahajoth noted that the medical officer who performed the autopsy had stated in a separate document that Shintumathi’s death was under suspicious and unnatural circumstances.
Based on a timeline of events detailed in the letter sighted by Malaysiakini, various attempts had been made to seek justice for Shintumathi, who co-owned a clinic with another doctor before her death.
Shintumathi’s mother had also claimed that while the scene where her daughter was found was covered in blood and an unidentified yellow liquid, investigating officers had not collected any of the substances for further analysis to determine whether other individuals were involved in the case.
She also asserted that police had failed to send two blood-stained mattresses for DNA tests and only secured CCTV footage from the day after Shintumathi’s death while supposedly ignoring recordings from earlier days. - Mkini
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