PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur High Court has ruled that the police and government were liable for a death in custody five years ago.
In a statement, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) said High Court judge Ahmad Bache held that the police and government were liable for negligence, unlawful imprisonment, breach of statutory duty as well as assault and battery resulting in the death of S Balamurugan in February 2017 while he was in custody at the Klang Utara district police headquarters.
A civil suit had been filed by Balamurugan’s family, who were represented by LFL director Zaid Malek. Senior federal counsel Norfauzani Mohd Nordin represented the defendants.
The damages granted to Balamurugan’s family will be assessed by the senior assistant registrar, LFL said.
Balamurugan was arrested on Feb 6, 2017 and taken to Bandar Baru Klang police station. A remand application against him was then rejected by the Klang magistrates’ court on the morning of Feb 7, 2017.
The court ordered police to take Balamurugan to hospital for immediate medical treatment. However, according to police, he was found unconscious in a temporary holding area for detainees on the night of Feb 7, 2017.
A post-mortem conducted by Hospital Kuala Lumpur found that the cause of death was coronary artery disease with blunt force trauma. - FMT
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