It's not suicide, says Pornthip

By FMT Staff

FMT ALERT SHAH ALAM: Thai pathologist Pornthip Rojanasunand today ruled out suicide as a cause of death for political secretary, Teoh Beng Hock, after carrying out a second autopsy on him.

In a packed courtroom, she maintained her opinion that Teoh's death was not of the nature of a suicide based on the injuries sustained from the fall and due to the lack of evidence confirming that he was conscious after the fall.

"This time round, I will not go for percentages because after carrying out the second autopsy by myself, I am very sure this is not a case of suicide," she said in her testimony.

Pornthip, however, did not rule out the fact that Teoh could have lost his consciousness in the fall.

Pornthip, who earlier this year was warned against testifying at the court due to “political pressure” from the Malaysian government, notified the relevant authorities yesterday that she would testify at today's hearing.

In an earlier hearing this year, she said that there was a 80% chance that Teoh's death was not because of suicide.

Teoh, who was a political secretary to Selangor councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16, last year at Plaza Masalam while in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in Selangor.

Also attending the court hearing today were DAP veteran leader Lim Kit Siang and MP Kuala Selangor, Dzulkefly Ahmad.
Rules out manual strangulation
During questioning, Pornthip also confirmed that based on her evidence today, she has ruled out manual strangulation.

She also agreed that the cause of death was due to multiple injuries caused from fall from a height.

She said her conclusions were based on her experience in other cases as well as the forensic evidence.

After she was released by the coroner, lawyer Gobind Singh who is acting for the Teoh family, sought an adjournment so that he can seek expert advice on the new evidence tendered in the last sitting – believed to be Teoh's suicide note.

Coroner agreed to adjourn the matter to Sept 1 for mention.