‘Police abuse’ victims sue cops

The two claim to have been beaten with rubber hoses and that the cops poured hot water on their bodies.

UPDATED

KUALA LUMPUR: Two alleged police abuse victims have filed a civil suit against seven police officers whom the duo accused of torturing them while in custody in 2008.

Also named in the suit were Brickfields police chief Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid and the Malaysian government.

In their suit, B Prabakar and C Solomon Raj demanded the officers pay for general, aggravated, exemplary and punitive damages plus costs.

The two claimed that they were beaten with rubber hoses and forced to confess to crimes they did not commit after being picked up by the police in December 2008.

They also alleged that the police poured hot water on their bodies.

While two of the officers were ordered by the court to enter their defence in July, the rest were cleared by police investigation.

‘Incident has traumatised me’

Speaking at a press conference here today, Prabakar, 30, said he was traumatised since the incident and had to seek psychiatric treatment as he was too afraid to leave his house.

“Even my friends have ignored me and started calling me a mad man,” he said.
Also present were his lawyer N Surendran, Lawyers for Liberty adviser Latheefa Koya and Kapar MP S Manickavasagam.

On his arrest, Prabakar said he never knew the police were going to brutalise him as he thought they only wanted to test his urine for drugs.

“But they started assaulting me after putting me in a lock up. When I asked them about it, the officers told me to shut up and confess to a number of crimes I did not commit,” he said.

After five days of remand, the police allegedly warned him not to reveal what had happened.
“As for my burn marks, the police told me to tell that I dropped hot soup on my body while eating,” he claimed.

Blaming the judges


Meanwhile, Surendran said the government must set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to deal with cases involving police brutality.

On the suit, the PKR vice president said it was filed as a reminder to the police that they were under public scrutiny.

He also took a swipe at the judiciary, blaming it for the rot in the police force as the former refused to act sternly on cases involving police brutality.

“In my 18 years being in legal practice, I have seen many judges siding the police despite having a strong case. One judge even threw out our case saying the police are hardworking public servants.

“As for Prabakar’s case, we are upset that only two of the officers were called to enter their defence although he identified seven assailants,” he said.