Sara Lily George, mother of Francis Udayappan, observing history repeating itself at Kugan’s funeral. — Picture by Shannon Teoh
PUCHONG, Jan 28 — For Sara Lily George, it is like a case of deja vu.
The same attitudes in government appear to have prevailed since she lost her son, Francis Udayappan, who also died after he was detained by police on April 16, 2004, in a case with striking similarities with that of A Kugan, another criminal suspect whose funeral she attended today.
The government and police had denied any wrongdoing then and today, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said that people should not regard criminals as heroes and the police who enforce the law as demons.
Wearing a sombre look on her face, the 50-year-old mother of Francis Udayappan watched proceedings as suspected car thief A Kugan, 22, was finally laid to rest at the Puchong Batu 14 cemetery as she clutched a folder of documents and pictures of her son’s decomposed body.
She showed them to any members of the press who showed any interest or recognised her from past encounters.
“How can we respect the police when these things continue to happen?” she told Malaysian Insider as she waited with thousands of others in solidarity with Kugan’s family.
“This will result in BN falling even further,” she added, referring to the governing coalition’s losses in last year’s general election.
Nearly five years ago, Udayappan was himself only 23 when he died after being held at the Brickfields police station on suspicion of theft of RM200 and a cellphone.
It sparked widespread criticism of the police force who maintained that Udayappan had escaped and jumped into the Klang river, where his decomposed body was fished out of a month later.
Today, she is still pursuing an RM29 million civil suit against the government and 11 other individuals after the courts refused to overturn an inquest finding that her son’s death while in police custody was not due to foul play.
George maintains that her son was a victim of police brutality and that his dead body was dumped into the river.
“Even if they say he escaped, he was under police custody then. They are responsible,” she insisted.
Today, after hours of accusing the police to be murderers and demanding justice for their dearly departed brethren, hundreds rallied around Penang Deputy Chief Minister Dr P Ramasamy after Kugan's casket was finally covered in muddy soil.
The DAP deputy secretary-general criticised the police for betraying the public’s trust.
“Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi,” he said, using the Malay proverb which suggests a betrayal of trust.
In voices like Ramasamy and various other Indian opposition leaders present today, George sees hope for people like her who claim to have lost loved ones due to injustices by the government.
“All those years ago, we could not do anything. But now there is a stronger opposition and there are many who are willing to take up these causes,” she said.
Shannon Teoh
28/01/09
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