Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should set-up the IPCMC immediately to stop deaths in custody.
COMMENT
By Charles Santiago
It has always been one death too many. According to official statistics, there were 147 deaths in police custody last year.
This shook the conscience of the country and deeply angered Malaysians. But nothing changed.
The recent death does not just add to the escalating number. The lurid details of the victim’s body is shocking as it points to a rising level of physical abuse and torture by police officers.
N Darmindran’s body was covered with bruises and both his ears were stapled. The police have now reclassified the case as murder although they initially said Dharmendran died from breathing difficulties.
His lawyers have described it as the worst case of police brutality, since the death of Kugan Ananthan in 2009.
The deep wounds on Darmindran’s body plus the staples with dried blood indicate he died from physical torture, although the police have attempted to pin his death on an asthma attack.
But we are not buying such stories anymore. Tales of poor health have been the mantra of the police force even when there were not just bruises but eyewitness accounts of brutality and physical abuse.
In January, C Sugumaran died under suspicious circumstances while under the custody of the police. Eyewitnesses say the police chased him down the road, handcuffed and beat him to death, joined by a mob of people.
They also say they saw policemen kicking Sugumaran in the neck. And his face was smeared with turmeric.
Despite repeated requests from Sugumaran’s family members, the police have dismissed a second post-mortem and refused to classify the case as murder.
According to the police, the victim had run amuck forcing them to restrain him. And upon reaching the police station, Sugumaran was found to have died from a heart attack.
In the same month, Pua Bee Chun a young mother of two was shot dead by the police in Klang. The Selangor CPO maintains after four months that investigations are on-going in identifying the killer.
The police continue to act with impunity as they enjoy absolute power. The inertia demonstrated by the government in implementing the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) has contributed to the rising number of deaths in the hands of the police.
This has to stop
As the year began, three people including Sugumaran died under police custody. And aside from deaths in police custody, police also shot dead several people, each month, on average.
Police say they were either returning fire or the people were suspected criminals. But many are shot dead just for failing to stop at police roadblocks.
Peoples’ confidence in the police has been taking a steady dip over the past few years, largely triggered by a deep-seated suspicion of the force. Their concern holds water.
Darmindran’s death and the shocking wounds on his body clearly signal that the police have no qualms abusing their powers or indulging in torture despite the nationwide uproar.
And more so as they are not accountable to anyone. This has to stop.
The government must immediately set-up the IPCMC instead of shuffling it along. We have read about newly minted Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi thumping his chest and vowing to act on anyone who dares to hold peaceful rallies or question the country’s electoral system.
I now ask that he bucks up and does the right thing as the minister in charge of Home Affairs by ordering and open inquiry into Darmindran’s death and instructing the police chief to suspend all officers who were involved in interrogating the deceased until the investigation is completed.
We have been disappointed many times with the outcome of the police investigating themselves. But as the new government has promised transparency and accountability, I urge the police not to play Houdini by trying to make crucial evidence disappear or attempt to cover up for their fellow colleagues.
BN’s shortcomings have become a huge liability to the country and its people for decades. Let’s hope that, for once, fairness and justice will prevail.
Or Darmindran will become just another number, adding to the rising statistics
Charles Santiago is DAP’s MP for Klang
COMMENT
By Charles SantiagoIt has always been one death too many. According to official statistics, there were 147 deaths in police custody last year.
This shook the conscience of the country and deeply angered Malaysians. But nothing changed.
The recent death does not just add to the escalating number. The lurid details of the victim’s body is shocking as it points to a rising level of physical abuse and torture by police officers.
N Darmindran’s body was covered with bruises and both his ears were stapled. The police have now reclassified the case as murder although they initially said Dharmendran died from breathing difficulties.
His lawyers have described it as the worst case of police brutality, since the death of Kugan Ananthan in 2009.
The deep wounds on Darmindran’s body plus the staples with dried blood indicate he died from physical torture, although the police have attempted to pin his death on an asthma attack.
But we are not buying such stories anymore. Tales of poor health have been the mantra of the police force even when there were not just bruises but eyewitness accounts of brutality and physical abuse.
In January, C Sugumaran died under suspicious circumstances while under the custody of the police. Eyewitnesses say the police chased him down the road, handcuffed and beat him to death, joined by a mob of people.
They also say they saw policemen kicking Sugumaran in the neck. And his face was smeared with turmeric.
Despite repeated requests from Sugumaran’s family members, the police have dismissed a second post-mortem and refused to classify the case as murder.
According to the police, the victim had run amuck forcing them to restrain him. And upon reaching the police station, Sugumaran was found to have died from a heart attack.
In the same month, Pua Bee Chun a young mother of two was shot dead by the police in Klang. The Selangor CPO maintains after four months that investigations are on-going in identifying the killer.
The police continue to act with impunity as they enjoy absolute power. The inertia demonstrated by the government in implementing the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) has contributed to the rising number of deaths in the hands of the police.
This has to stop
As the year began, three people including Sugumaran died under police custody. And aside from deaths in police custody, police also shot dead several people, each month, on average.
Police say they were either returning fire or the people were suspected criminals. But many are shot dead just for failing to stop at police roadblocks.
Peoples’ confidence in the police has been taking a steady dip over the past few years, largely triggered by a deep-seated suspicion of the force. Their concern holds water.
Darmindran’s death and the shocking wounds on his body clearly signal that the police have no qualms abusing their powers or indulging in torture despite the nationwide uproar.
And more so as they are not accountable to anyone. This has to stop.
The government must immediately set-up the IPCMC instead of shuffling it along. We have read about newly minted Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi thumping his chest and vowing to act on anyone who dares to hold peaceful rallies or question the country’s electoral system.
I now ask that he bucks up and does the right thing as the minister in charge of Home Affairs by ordering and open inquiry into Darmindran’s death and instructing the police chief to suspend all officers who were involved in interrogating the deceased until the investigation is completed.
We have been disappointed many times with the outcome of the police investigating themselves. But as the new government has promised transparency and accountability, I urge the police not to play Houdini by trying to make crucial evidence disappear or attempt to cover up for their fellow colleagues.
BN’s shortcomings have become a huge liability to the country and its people for decades. Let’s hope that, for once, fairness and justice will prevail.
Or Darmindran will become just another number, adding to the rising statistics
Charles Santiago is DAP’s MP for Klang
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