Govt drops appeal, mum of dead inmate to get RM300,000 in damages

 

Rahaya Salleh (right) had sued the government, the police and the prisons department in 2017 for assault and negligence. (Bernama pic)

PUTRAJAYA: The mother of a man who died in prison eight years ago will finally be awarded about RM300,000 in damages as the government has withdrawn its appeal before the Federal Court.

Rahaya Salleh’s lawyer, M Visvanathan, said the government has filed a notice of discontinuance of an application for leave to appeal scheduled to be heard today.

“As such, today’s online proceeding has been vacated,” Visvanathan told FMT.

On July 7 last year, a three-member Court of Appeal bench comprising judges Yaacob Md Sam, Ahmad Nasfy Yasin and M Gunalan awarded a total of RM302,000 in damages to Rahaya, the mother of Kamarulnizam Ismail.

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A sum of RM250,000 was awarded for negligence, RM40,800 in dependency claim and RM10,000 in special damages.

Some RM2,000 in funeral expenses, as ordered by the Ipoh High Court, was also maintained. The damages payable also come with interest.

Rahaya will be paid another RM36,000 in costs entitled to her in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court.

Nasfy, who delivered the judgment, had said Kamarulnizam was kept in a police lock-up from Feb 14, 2014 until he died at the Tapah prison on March 4, 2014.

“He was repeatedly interrogated by police, and the prison authorities also did not ensure his safety and health,” he said.

Nasfy said it did not make sense for Kamarulnizam, a factory worker, to have succumbed to a chest infection within 24 hours.

Rahaya filed a suit against the government, the police and the prisons department in 2017 for assault and negligence after Kamarulnizam died at the Tapah prison.

Kamarulnizam had been sent to prison on March 3, 2014 to serve a two-week jail sentence, after pleading guilty to charges under the Penal Code and the Minor Offences Act.

His father, Ismail Ahmad, had gone to the Bukit Mertajam court to settle the fine, but Kamarulnizam wanted to serve the jail term as he had intended to use the money to repair his car.

Rahaya said her son was arrested by police with three others and alleged that he was assaulted by three policemen when detained at the Seberang Perai Tengah district police headquarters in Bukit Mertajam. - FMT