For six days following A Kugan's disappearance on Jan 14, his family members had sleepless nights searching for him but it was all in vain.On Jan 20, their worst fears were realised when a patrol car pulled up in front of a relative's home in Puchong, to inform them that Kugan had died under police custody.
"Why? Why couldn't they just call us when he was arrested? But when he died, they seemed to know how to find our house," said Kugan's father G Sandaran when met at his relative's home in Puchong today.
Kugan is the latest victim of death while in police custody, allegedly due to assault. The police had claimed that Kugan was a suspected car thief and there was no foul play involved in his death.
Relatives told Malaysiakini that they last saw Kugan on Jan 14 at about 7pm and never heard from him again.
His aunt, S Renuga, 31, recalled on that evening she received an anonymous phone call informing her that Kugan had been arrested but details were sketchy.
"I could not sleep that night. We searched from one police station to another looking for him but everywhere we went, they said he was not there," she said.
The following morning, Renuga got even more anxious when two plainclothes policemen came to her home at 6am looking for Kugan.
"They said they were from D9 (serious crimes unit). They were very fierce and they wanted to know who Kugan's friends were," she said, adding that she had no knowledge of the deceased's friends.
No criminal record
Renuga is close to Kugan because the latter frequently visited her husband who was his business partner. Kugan used to help his uncle tows cars for an insurance company.
With two jobs to manage, Renuga and Sandaran are both convinced that Kugan had no time for criminal activities, as alleged by the police, especially since the deceased never had a criminal record.
"Every sen he earned was legitimate. He has been learning how to fix cars since his secondary school days. His hobby was modifying cars, not stealing them," said Sandaran.
"But now, the first time he was arrested, he was killed," Renuga was quick to add.
Sandaran said he was extremely suspicious because of the numerous injuries found on Kugan's body and the statements made by Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar.
Kugan's family has ruled out death due to illnesses because he never had any medical conditions.
Sandaran vowed to pursue the matter until those responsible for his son's death are brought to justice, though his immediate concern was to see that a second post-mortem is conducted and burial rites are performed quickly.
"I hope this never happens to another Malaysian, especially an Indian. The Indians are the largest number of people who die at the hands of the police," he said.
Sandaran also denied police and media accusations that a 'mob' had barged into the Serdang hospital mortuary on Jan 20 to claim Kugan's body.
"They (hospital attendants) opened the door for us. The door can only be opened from the inside," he said.
Khalid had earlier claimed that Kugan died from having 'fluid in his lungs' and that his family had barged into the hospital mortuary.
Andrew Ong
malaysiakini
25/01/09
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