It is unlikely that the results of a second post-mortem on 22-year-old police detainee, A Kugan, will be revealed soon as a Singapore-based lab has declined to study the blood and tissue samples.
“The tissue samples were supposed to be sent to Singapore but they are reluctant to accept it,” said lawyer N Surendran, who is representing the deceased’s family. He added that the reason for this was because of the high-profile nature of the case.
Kugan’s family members and Surendran today met with University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) pathologist Dr Prashant.
The second post-mortem was initiated by Kugan’s family to dispute initial findings which concluded that his death was caused by fluid in his lungs.
After consultation with the family, Surendran said a decision has been made to send Kugan’s tissue samples to Australia with the co-operation of UMMC for analysis.
“It would probably take a week or so before we get the report of the findings,” said Surendran.
However, he expected the findings of the second post-mortem to be significantly different from what was revealed earlier.
‘Zero trust’ in government labs
Surendran said Kugan’s family was given the option to send the tissue samples to a government lab, but declined the offer as they felt government institutions lacked independence.
“We have information from our sources that the police have taken a statement from the UMMC pathologist. We have zero trust in the forensics in this country,” he added.
Kugan’s uncle Ravi Roy, when contacted by Malaysiakini said his family was still distraught over the brutal murder of his nephew and were very disappointed that the Singapore-based lab has denied to analyse the tissue samples.
Kugan, who was the eldest of five siblings, was arrested on Jan 15 following suspicions of his involvement in a luxury car theft syndicate. He died at the Taipan police station in Subang Jaya, five days later.
Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar stated that the deceased had asked for a glass of water, and upon drinking it, had collapsed and died.
A video of the remains taken at the Serdang Hospital mortuary, however, revealed severe bruises on the body, leading many quarters to accuse the police of foul play.
Following, public outcry and pressure from various quarters, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail classified Kugan’s death as murder.
On Jan 28, Kugan was laid to rest at a Hindu cemetery in Puchong following a funeral procession which drew hundreds, including some prominent politicians.
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