Kugan's death: Cop to be charged tomorrow - Malaysiakini

After more than eight months since Kugan Ananthan had breathed his last, at least one policeman is expected to be hauled to court tomorrow over the 23-year-old detainee's death.

The latest development comes 48 hours after the deceased's family and supporters failed in their bid to submit a petition to the King in protest of the snail-paced response from the authorities.

Contacted this evening, a senior police officer confirmed that a suspect would be charged tomorrow.

Although it could not be ascertained how many would face the rap, the source said: "I strongly believe that it is one person."

"We don't have the details pertaining to the case as the matter is being handled by the Attorney-General's Chambers," he added.

It is believed that the police personnel would be charged at the Petaling Jaya Magistrate's Court early in the morning.

Malaysiakini later learnt that there is a possibility the AG may defer his decision to charge the suspect tomorrow.

Concerned groups have long complained about the lack of prompt action concerning the case, which exploded into a national issue after a video recording revealed severe lacerations on the deceased's body.

Case classified as murder

Following the massive public outcry, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail classified the case as murder.

Subsequently, 11 police personnel were reassigned to desk duties pending investigations.

Kugan had died on Jan 20 at the USJ Taipan police station, five days after he was picked up in connection with a car theft case.

The deceased's family had accused the police of foul play, and a second post-mortem commissioned by them revealed that the youth was beaten, burnt and starved prior to his death.

Two days ago, some 20 people, including Kugan's family members, attempted to submit a petition to the King to call for a speedy probe into the case.

The group was led by opposition parliamentarians Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) and S Manikavasagam (PKR-Kapar).

Gobind had demanded that the attorney-general come forward and explain why nothing had been done in the past eight months.

"The entire country cannot understand why the silence on the part of the AG, who had already classified it (Kugan's case) as a murder," he added.

The first post-mortem concluded that Kugan died due to fluid accumulation in the lungs.

Also pending in court is a suit filed by Kugan's mother against the police for seizing items from the office of Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) pathologist Dr Prashant N Sambekar who performed the second post-mortem.