It has been four months since 23-year-old youth Kugan Ananthan was found dead in a police station, but no one has since been charged for his murder.
Hindu Right Action Force chairperson P Waythamoorthy has described the apparently lack of action by the Attorney-General’s Chambers as a “travesty of justice”.
“How difficult is it to ascertain this murder unless it is again a protracted attempt by the police department, in cohort with the AG’s office, to suppress justice for an Indian Malaysian,” he said.
“Hindraf understands and acknowledges the shortcoming in the current administration, but what we observe in Kugan’s case is beyond comprehension in present day and time in a so-called democratically-elected government.”
Kugan, who was detained on Jan 15 at the Taipan police station in Subang for suspicion of being involved in luxury cars theft, died five days later while in custody.
The cause of death was initially classified as sudden death caused by fluid accumulation in his lung.
However, relatives who were called in to identify his body at the Serdang Hospital mortuary on the night of his death, alleged they found lacerations and bruises all over his body.
Backed by video evidence, Kugan's family subsequently demanded that his body be sent for a second post-mortem at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).
The new post-mortem revealed that the cause of death was due to, among others, brutal force on
Case reclassified as murder
After much public outrage of what was considered to be an extreme episode of police torture, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail reclassified the case as murder.
Although 11 cops from the police station where removed and assigned desk duties after the re-classification of the case, no action has been taken against them so far.
It was reported on Jan 29 that the police officers involved were supposedly to be charged for murder in February.
However, on April 8, the cops raided the office of UMMC pathologist Dr Prashant N Sambekar, the man who had conducted the second post-mortem, and seized Kugan’s forensic specimens and samples to be sent for a toxicology test.
“To date, no reasonable or any justifiable answer has been provided by any of the (government) departments other than (they) claiming that they are still investigating the murder,” exclaimed Waythamoorthy.
Make committee findings public
The Hindraf leader also questoned the findings revealed by the Health Ministry, which set up an independent committee to probe the two post-mortem reports and concluded Kugan died of acute pulmonary oedema cue to acute myocarditis, compounded by blunt force trauma.
“To add salt to the wound, the Health Ministry secretary-general revealed the findings... of the second post-mortem without examining the body of the deceased,” said Waythamoorthy, who also urged the ministry to make the findings public.
He added that the government was 'dragging their feet' as there were other hidden motives involved and he alleged that the murder was premeditated.
“We urge elected representatives of the society, non-governmental organisations and the Malaysian public to mount pressure on the government to act immediately in charging the murderers of Kugan,” he said.
Malaysiakini
24/04/09
Hindu Right Action Force chairperson P Waythamoorthy has described the apparently lack of action by the Attorney-General’s Chambers as a “travesty of justice”.
“How difficult is it to ascertain this murder unless it is again a protracted attempt by the police department, in cohort with the AG’s office, to suppress justice for an Indian Malaysian,” he said.
“Hindraf understands and acknowledges the shortcoming in the current administration, but what we observe in Kugan’s case is beyond comprehension in present day and time in a so-called democratically-elected government.”
Kugan, who was detained on Jan 15 at the Taipan police station in Subang for suspicion of being involved in luxury cars theft, died five days later while in custody.
The cause of death was initially classified as sudden death caused by fluid accumulation in his lung.
However, relatives who were called in to identify his body at the Serdang Hospital mortuary on the night of his death, alleged they found lacerations and bruises all over his body.
Backed by video evidence, Kugan's family subsequently demanded that his body be sent for a second post-mortem at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).
The new post-mortem revealed that the cause of death was due to, among others, brutal force on
Case reclassified as murder
After much public outrage of what was considered to be an extreme episode of police torture, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail reclassified the case as murder.
Although 11 cops from the police station where removed and assigned desk duties after the re-classification of the case, no action has been taken against them so far.
It was reported on Jan 29 that the police officers involved were supposedly to be charged for murder in February.
However, on April 8, the cops raided the office of UMMC pathologist Dr Prashant N Sambekar, the man who had conducted the second post-mortem, and seized Kugan’s forensic specimens and samples to be sent for a toxicology test.
“To date, no reasonable or any justifiable answer has been provided by any of the (government) departments other than (they) claiming that they are still investigating the murder,” exclaimed Waythamoorthy.
Make committee findings public
The Hindraf leader also questoned the findings revealed by the Health Ministry, which set up an independent committee to probe the two post-mortem reports and concluded Kugan died of acute pulmonary oedema cue to acute myocarditis, compounded by blunt force trauma.
“To add salt to the wound, the Health Ministry secretary-general revealed the findings... of the second post-mortem without examining the body of the deceased,” said Waythamoorthy, who also urged the ministry to make the findings public.
He added that the government was 'dragging their feet' as there were other hidden motives involved and he alleged that the murder was premeditated.
“We urge elected representatives of the society, non-governmental organisations and the Malaysian public to mount pressure on the government to act immediately in charging the murderers of Kugan,” he said.
Malaysiakini
24/04/09
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