Four months on, no one from the USJ Taipan police station has been charged with the death of A Kugan while he was being detained.
DAP Puchong parliamentarian Gobind Singh Deo (right) said newly-appointed Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein must now make it a priority to bring those responsible to justice.
“There must be some explanation forthcoming or the speculation of a cover-up will only loom stronger among the (public),” he said in a statement today
“Here lies a sad case where even the strongest of protests has failed to move the authorities to recognise the public sentiment involved, and the need to move quickly to resolve the matter.
Questioning the delay, “double standards” and silence on the part of various authorities, he asked why “those who mercilessly assaulted Kugan are not subjected to the same treatment as other ordinary Malaysians who are implicated in cases of this nature”.
“A delay in prosecution will weaken the prosecution’s case as witnesses, like all humans, will face recollection problems,” he said.
“The defence of those charged will also face similar predicament. At the same time, the delays in bringing the perpetrators to book will have an almost irreparable impact upon the public.”
Gobind also challenged Hishammuddin (left) to an open debate over the matter.
“I am firmly of the view that the time has come for there to be openness by way of open dialogue over issues such as lack of action in certain cases, and also the lack of direction in some high- profile prosecutions in the criminal justice system,” he said.
Conflicting findings
There was public outcry when Malaysiakini first highlighted the death of Kugan, 23, on Jan 20 while in police custody on suspicion of involvement in a luxury car-theft syndicate.
Relatives identifying his body at the Serdang Hospital mortuary claimed they found several bruises and lesions on his torso and legs.
The police sought a post-mortem. Dr Abdul Karim Tajuddin of Serdang Hospital concluded that Kugan had died from “fluid accumulation” in his lungs.
Dissatisfied, Kugan’s family sent his body for a private post-mortem at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre. Pathologist Dr Prashant N Sambekar attributed the cause of death to acute renal failure from rhabdomyolysis.
Amidst public outrage over what was perceived to be an extreme case of torture by the police, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail classified the case as murder.
On April 6, police seized the forensics samples from Prashant’s office, which prevented toxicology tests from being carried out in Australia as planned.
DAP Puchong parliamentarian Gobind Singh Deo (right) said newly-appointed Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein must now make it a priority to bring those responsible to justice.“There must be some explanation forthcoming or the speculation of a cover-up will only loom stronger among the (public),” he said in a statement today
“Here lies a sad case where even the strongest of protests has failed to move the authorities to recognise the public sentiment involved, and the need to move quickly to resolve the matter.
Questioning the delay, “double standards” and silence on the part of various authorities, he asked why “those who mercilessly assaulted Kugan are not subjected to the same treatment as other ordinary Malaysians who are implicated in cases of this nature”.
“A delay in prosecution will weaken the prosecution’s case as witnesses, like all humans, will face recollection problems,” he said.
“The defence of those charged will also face similar predicament. At the same time, the delays in bringing the perpetrators to book will have an almost irreparable impact upon the public.”Gobind also challenged Hishammuddin (left) to an open debate over the matter.
“I am firmly of the view that the time has come for there to be openness by way of open dialogue over issues such as lack of action in certain cases, and also the lack of direction in some high- profile prosecutions in the criminal justice system,” he said.
Conflicting findings
There was public outcry when Malaysiakini first highlighted the death of Kugan, 23, on Jan 20 while in police custody on suspicion of involvement in a luxury car-theft syndicate.
Relatives identifying his body at the Serdang Hospital mortuary claimed they found several bruises and lesions on his torso and legs.The police sought a post-mortem. Dr Abdul Karim Tajuddin of Serdang Hospital concluded that Kugan had died from “fluid accumulation” in his lungs.
Dissatisfied, Kugan’s family sent his body for a private post-mortem at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre. Pathologist Dr Prashant N Sambekar attributed the cause of death to acute renal failure from rhabdomyolysis.
Amidst public outrage over what was perceived to be an extreme case of torture by the police, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail classified the case as murder.
On April 6, police seized the forensics samples from Prashant’s office, which prevented toxicology tests from being carried out in Australia as planned.
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