Five years ago today, 30-year old palm
oil worker K Letchumanan reportedly died in police custody at the Raub
police station, four days after he had been arrested.
According
to a news report, police contended that the father of six children
hanged himself with a blanket in his cell. K Letchumanan’s family
members claimed the police did not inform them of his arrest and only
informed them about his death. His sister, Sarasvathy Thevi, lodged a
police report and requested the state police chief to investigate this
matter.
Despite
the requirement that all custodial deaths be investigated by inquiries
conducted pursuant to Chapter XXXII of the Criminal Procedure Code, it
does not appear that an inquest has been conducted into K Letchumanan’s
death.
Every
death in custody must be thoroughly and impartially investigated. K
Letchumanan’s death must not be relegated to a mere statistic.
Based
on the statistics disclosed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, 156
persons died in police custody between 2000 until February 2011.
We express our heartfelt condolences to K Letchumanan’s family and friends on the anniversary of his death.
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