Murugiah refutes claim Kugan's body was tampered

(New Straits Times) - Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator T. Murugiah rubbished claims that A. Kugan's body was tampered with by his family members before the post-mortem.

"The family members were distraught, yes, but I did not see anyone mishandling the body when I was there," he told reporters after meeting residents from Kota Damansara who were unhappy over the construction of a hypermarket in their neighbourhood.

Murugiah said he did not see any pool of blood on the floor as claimed by the Serdang Hospital medical officers.

He also said that he was not aware that the medical officers had been hiding in an adjoining room of the mortuary from the mob of about 50 people as he had been speaking to a doctor whom he declined to name.

Murugiah went on to say that the entire incident had been recorded on video and that the evidence had already been sent for investigation.

"Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has assured me that he would be looking into the case. We will just leave it to him to reach a decision," he said.

"The truth will eventually prevail," he added.

Murugiah was commenting on the statement by Serdang Hospital director Dr Mohd Norzi Ghazali who alleged that Kugan's body was tampered with by a mob of about 50 relatives and friends at the mortuary before pathologists had conducted the post-mortem. Dr Norzi also alleged that Kugan's fully-clothed body was in a body bag, which had been torn open by the mob.

In their police report later, the medical officers, who said they were hiding in an adjoining room, said they were shocked to see a pool of Kugan's blood on the mortuary floor.

This, the report said, indicated that wounds on Kugan's body could have been inflicted after his death.

The New Straits Times learnt that police had completed their investigation into the incident at the Serdang Hospital mortuary which they had classified as fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of a capital offence.

The charge carries a jail term of up to 20 years and fine.