Malay Mail
Custodial deaths are a major concern, with statistics revealed in Parliament last year showing that there were 1,535 custodial deaths in the country between 2003 and 2007, including deaths caused by diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
On May 1, a suspect in police custody was beaten up by angry members of the public in Klang.
Mohd Adzrul Ishak was handcuffed and left unattended while police went after others suspected to be involved in a mugging earlier.
On May 1, a suspect in police custody was beaten up by angry members of the public in Klang.
Mohd Adzrul Ishak was handcuffed and left unattended while police went after others suspected to be involved in a mugging earlier.
He died at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital hours later. Now we have another family claiming that Port Dickson police were negligent in waiting for a long time before calling for an ambulance to send car repossessor S. Telak to hospital.
Telak was at the receiving end of vigilante justice and dumped at the Port Dickson police station. Despite pleas
from relatives that he be taken to hospital, the family claimed, police dismissed Telak's plea for medical attention as "play-acting".
Telak subsequently died in hospital, apparently from a heart attack. Port Dickson police chief Supt Mazlan
Othman now says that Telak was in the balai for barely an hour.
That was, of course, challenged by Telak's brother Arusu, who insisted it was almost two hours before police did anything to get medical care.The duration, really, isn't the issue. When someone is brought to the station bleeding profusely from open wounds, the natural course of action would have been to call for immediate
medical attention.
It should never have been the way Mazlan tried to justify it.He said: "After he was brought in by several people, we waited for the statement to be recorded and then we called for an ambulance to take him to hospital."
Is that normal police procedure?
Aren't the police trained to recognise critical situations and prioritise?
Shouldn't a bleeding man be the bigger concern than a statement?
There is a simple rule of thumb - a cop should not try to be a doctor as well.All the station had to do was assign a couple of policemen to accompany Telak to hospital, if their concern was that he might escape.
A life could have been saved. This could have been an innocent man, one who had to pay with his life for the
alleged sins of his nephew. Even if he was no angel, didn't he deserve medical attention?
It is a human anomaly - to pretend not to see or hear because we think that absolves us of guilt.
The police must find out if there is truth to the claim that there were those who didn't do the right thing and aided in the death of Telak.
Telak was at the receiving end of vigilante justice and dumped at the Port Dickson police station. Despite pleas
from relatives that he be taken to hospital, the family claimed, police dismissed Telak's plea for medical attention as "play-acting".
Telak subsequently died in hospital, apparently from a heart attack. Port Dickson police chief Supt Mazlan
Othman now says that Telak was in the balai for barely an hour.
That was, of course, challenged by Telak's brother Arusu, who insisted it was almost two hours before police did anything to get medical care.The duration, really, isn't the issue. When someone is brought to the station bleeding profusely from open wounds, the natural course of action would have been to call for immediate
medical attention.
It should never have been the way Mazlan tried to justify it.He said: "After he was brought in by several people, we waited for the statement to be recorded and then we called for an ambulance to take him to hospital."
Is that normal police procedure?
Aren't the police trained to recognise critical situations and prioritise?
Shouldn't a bleeding man be the bigger concern than a statement?
There is a simple rule of thumb - a cop should not try to be a doctor as well.All the station had to do was assign a couple of policemen to accompany Telak to hospital, if their concern was that he might escape.
A life could have been saved. This could have been an innocent man, one who had to pay with his life for the
alleged sins of his nephew. Even if he was no angel, didn't he deserve medical attention?
It is a human anomaly - to pretend not to see or hear because we think that absolves us of guilt.
The police must find out if there is truth to the claim that there were those who didn't do the right thing and aided in the death of Telak.
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