No more excuses on Thiyaggurudeen’s case, says Sivarasa

The PKR MP tells the Negeri Sembilan police chief to investigate the case instead of saying it's "too complicated”.

KUALA LUMPUR: The police have a duty to investigate the case of G Thiyaggurudeen and cannot hide behind the excuse of it being “too complicated to investigate”, Subang MP R Sivarasa said today.

The 14-year-old boy attempted suicide after being allegedly detained at an Islamic missionary centre by two of his teachers and some members of the Negeri Sembilan Religious Affairs Department.

At a press conference outside Parliament today, the PKR MP criticized Negeri Sembilan police chief Jaafar Mohd Yusof for “shirking his duty with useless excuses”, saying that he had to act professionally and ensure that the two teachers and religious officers were thoroughly investigated.

Jaafar had said his men would neither conduct inquiries nor open an investigation because of the complexity of the case, citing “numerous allegations and counter-allegations”.

Sivarasa said the teachers and religious officers involved could be charged for crimes under the Penal Code such as kidnapping, wrongful confinement, intimidation, assault and causing a false police report to be made.

Thiyaggurudeen attempted suicide by drinking coffee laced with paraquat.

“While he was in the hospital, religious officers harassed him until his father had to take him out of the hospital before his treatments were over,” said Sivarasa.

“He and his father have made five police reports about this, but no action has been taken.”

The boy had alleged that his teachers forced him to drink “holy water” before he was indoctrinated by religious missionaries and coerced into making a police report against his father, S Ganesan, saying that he had forced him to leave Islam for Hinduism.

The alleged harassment began after Ganesan requested that his son be excluded from Islamic Studies class.

“The police chief needs to explain why the police have not yet recorded a statement from the accusing party in this case,” said Sivarasa.

“How did he come to the conclusion that this case was too complicated without having made any investigations in the first place?”

Sivarasa also said PKR would take the case to Bukit Aman and other authorities if Jaafar did not come up with an explanation within the next two weeks.

Ganesan told FMT that the episode had left his family traumatized as his son was still suffering from anxiety and refusing to leave the house.

“He also refuses to attend school, fearing that such an incident would happen again,” he said. “I also don’t have any assurance that my son won’t be harassed again. I can’t even leave him alone at home.”

Now a Hindu, Ganesan had converted to Islam when he married a Muslim in 1982. His second wife, Thiyaggurudeen’s mother, is an Indonesian Muslim. He has since divorced her.

Ganesan successfully applied to leave Islam in 1987, but his son faced complications with changing the religious status on his MyKad.

He has approached the Syariah court to change the religious status on his son’s MyKad but was informed that he could do this only when his son had reached 18 years old.