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Saturday, 26 September 2009

Kugan's mother to appeal to Agong - Malaysiakini

It has been nine months since 23-year-old Kugan Ananthan died in police custody and despite a post-mortem report revealing that he was severely beaten up resulting in kidney failure and death, no prosecution has taken place.

Kugan case 020709 05Annoyed and weary by the lack of haste on the matter by the authorities, some 200 people will gathering at Istana Negara tomorrow to submit a petition to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong calling for action to be against his assailants.

Human rights lawyer N Surendran, who is representing Kugan' family told Malaysiakini today that the palace is their last avenue to pressure for prosecution.

Kugan's mother, N Indra, will be submitting the petition to the Agong.

Kugan died on Jan 20 after being detained in connection with several car theft cases for five days at the Taipan police station in USJ.

The first autopsy conducted by the Serdang Hospital concluded that Kugan had died from liquid accumulation in his lungs.

Dissatisfied with the report his family demanded that a second post-mortem to be done, as a video clip taken at the Serdang Hospital mortuary revealed severe bruises on Kugan's body.

Following massive public outcry accusing the police of foul play, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail reclassified the case as murder and a day later 11 officers from the Taipan police station were moved and put on desk duty.

Moreover, in April the police had seized Kugan's blood and tissue samples, documents and even the second pathologist handwritten notes from the University Malaya Medical Centre's Pathology Department.

No probe despite evidence

Currently, the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) is probing Dr. Karim Tajuddin's professional conduct in relation to the cause of Kugan's death in the first post-mortem report.

Kugan case 020709 04"Until now nobody has been arrested and nobody has been charged... on top of that the police have seized the samples," lamented Surendran (left).

"Kugan's mother has got no where else to turn to... in hopes that the Agong is the final frontier of justice, we are going there tomorrow," he said.

The family is currently pursuing for the return of Kugan's seized blood and tissue samples.

Surendran said that the several civil rights groups and opposition members of parliament will also be present at the vicinity.

He added that the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities is taking a toll on Kugan's family.

"His mother may be terminated soon as she has to take off every time we have to go to court, however, she is determined to go on and she is not giving up until the matter is resolved," he said.

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