The upcoming inquest into the death of K. Sujatha, actress and former personal secretary to Vel Paari, the son of embattled MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, will be explosive and is likely to be politically damaging to both father and son.
The son is just emerging, politically, out of his father's shadow and is ambitious to carve out a political career for himself as his father departs from the political stage is imminent.
But the inquest, in which Vel Paari is expected to be a star witness, could possibly damage his political career.
A key question the Feb 13 inquest will determine is whether Sujatha was murdered, as alleged by some opposition politicians, or had committed suicide by consuming weed killer.
Either way questions would be raised during the inquest over how and why she died, why she was rushed from her apartment in Kuala Lumpur to the Klang hospital some 30km away and why her body was hurriedly cremated.
"This inquest is long overdue and I hope all these questions are answered," said Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam, the PKR leader who put the issue in the public arena and made a name for himself as a opposition firebrand and is a fierce critic of Samy Vellu, Vel Paari and former Sentul OCP ACP K.Kumaran over the handling of Sujatha's death.
Kumaran has since filed a multi- million dollar defamation suit against Manivasagam for alleging he covered up the case. Vel Paari has repeatedly denied any improper involvement in her death.
It has been widely speculated that Val Paari had a relationship with the actress when Sujatha worked as his private secretary at Maika Holdings where Paari, Samy Vellu's only son, is CEO.
The inquest at the Magistrates Court 2 in Jalan Duta will be before Coroner Mohd Faizi bin Abu.
Police extensively probed the case and questioned Paari at length but never made public their findings, which are likely to be revealed at the inquest.
The unresolved controversy surrounding her death was a key issue exploited by the opposition to discredit Samy Vellu, the MIC and consequently caused the BN the Indian votes in the general election.
Political analysts say it is significant that the inquest is being held now, nearly two years after her death, and at a time when Samy Vellu is mired in numerous controversies including his still unknown plans to hand over power of the party to a yet unnamed successor.
The inquest, MIC insiders said, will pile the pressure on Samy to hand over power sooner rather than later.
Sujatha, 29, died on June 25, 2007 at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang after she swallowed weed killer.
She is said to have confessed on her death bed to what had actually taken place at her apartment but that confession has also never been revealed.
Manikavasagam, who accused Kumaran of covering up the case, had claimed that he had proof of foul play linking Vel Paari to the case and lodged several police reports alleging the same.
But Paari denied any involvement. He was questioned at length by a special Bukit Aman team that took over the investigation from the Sentul police.
Manikavasagam has also asked the Bar Council to hold a watching brief at the inquest.
No comments:
Post a Comment