Penang court awards RM197,600 over death in custody

The Penang High Court ordered the government and the police to pay RM197,600 in compensation to the family of Mohd Fadzrin Zaidi, 29, who died while in custody at the North Seberang Perai district police headquarters in 2019.

The court determined a quantum of RM50,000 for legal costs, RM57,600 for loss of dependency, RM30,000 for pain and suffering, RM50,000 for aggravated damages, RM3,000 for funeral expenses, RM5,000 for the cost of obtaining letters of administration for the estate and RM2,000 for travel expenses.

Judge P Anand rendered the decision on compensation for Fadzrin’s mother, Fadhelah Othman, 56, following the conclusion of the civil suit proceedings she initiated against the government and the police, in the High Court today.

In 2022, Fadhelah initiated a lawsuit against the government and other defendants, including the inspector-general of police, the Penang police chief, the district police chief as well as police personnel in the district headquarters.

During the proceedings, Anand said police were negligent in managing the lock-up, leading to the detainee’s death.

“During the incident, negligence was identified, such as the failure to monitor closed-circuit television cameras continuously and the dereliction of duty by the personnel on duty.

“These aspects should have been monitored to prevent detainee fatalities in the lock-up,” he said.

Earlier, it was reported that Fadzrin, a grave digger, had been apprehended in Kampung Perlis under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

Subsequently, he was found dead, believed to have hanged himself in the lock-up at the district police headquarters on Nov 20, 2019.

Senior federal counsel Nur Ezdiani Roleb and federal counsel Syafiq Affandy Hassan represented the defendants, while M Visvanathan, V Sanjay Nathan and V Pushan Qin Nathan represented the plaintiff.

Fadhelah, when met later, noted that while it was exhausting to commute between Seberang Perai and the court in George Town in the last two years, the ruling made it all worthwhile.

- Bernama