Malaysian Indian detainee died of police beating

3 Mar 2009, 2003 hrs IST, PTI
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Malaysian-Indian-detainee-died-of-police-beating/articleshow/4219861.cms

KUALA LUMPUR: An ethnic Indian man who died in police custody in Malaysia, had been repeatedly beaten up and had multiple burn marks on his body, a second post-mortem conducted after his family's request has revealed.

The second autopsy carried out on the body of 22-year old suspected car thief A Kugan who died on January 20, contradicts the first report which said the youth had died from fluid in his lungs.

The case hit headlines in Malaysia after Kugan's family members refused to believe police reports that Kugan was not beaten up causing his death while in police custody.

The post-mortem, conducted by a pathologist from the Government run University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) at the request of the 22-year-old's family, also showed that he had multiple burn marks.

These V-shaped burn marks are believed to have been caused by a hot iron, Kugan's family lawyer N Surendran told reporters.

The first post-mortem only examined the body from the chest up, Surendran was quoted by local online reports as saying.

The second, which examined the entire body, found 42 other marks, burns and contusions from the sole of his feet right up to his head. The pathologist declared, based on the post-mortem, that Kugan was beaten so badly that his tissues broke down and his kidneys failed, Surendran said.


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Update Autopsy says that Kugan was tortured, starved before dying
http://www.theedgedaily.com/political-news/1188-flash-2nd-autopsy-shows-kugan-died-from-acute-kidney-failure.html

KUALA LUMPUR: Outside the skies had begun to darken as the distant rumbling thunder signaled yet another storm for Klang Valley.

Inside the press conference hall at PKR’s headquarters, the mood was equally grim and gloomy as journalists listened in horror to the lawyer appointed by A Kugan’s family.

For as he detailed each horrific mark, listed in the alleged car thief’s second autopsy report, even seasoned crime reporters were stunned. Besides the scars left on the deceased’s body, there were also signs that torture and starvation had occurred.

So distressed was everyone that when the time came for questions, none were fired at all. Although, the official reason given for Kugan’s death was “Acute kidney failure due to rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue due to blunt trauma”, the details of his report revealed something more gruesome.

The report said that death was caused by the destruction of muscle which lead to the release of breakdown products of the damage cells into the bloodstream. Some of these, such as myoglobin (a protein) are harmful to the kidney and may have led to the its failure.

All in all, counsel N Surendran read out 45 counts of physical trauma on the body of the late Kugan.

“Taking away the three surgical incisions made during the first post-mortem, Dr Prashant N Samberkar said there were 42 signs of beatings on the young man’s body,” Surendran explained.

The lawyer pointed out that this was markedly different from the first autopsy conducted by Hospital Serdang.

“That report indicated that Kugan had died as a result of pulmonary edema and did not highlight any of the physical trauma suffered by Kugan.”

In the report, which was released to the family at 5.30pm on Monday, Dr Prashant noted that haemorrhage had taken place in many parts of the deceased.

“There was haemorrhage in the trakea, chest, left lung and even the heart,” said Surendran. “Other areas which showed indications of trauma included the spleen, stomach, back of the neck, spine area and soles of the feet.

“There were even burn marks on his back.”

The pathologist wrote in his report on item 39, “A 55cm x 45cm area of contusion over the entire back with multiple, repeated application of head with an instrument or object with a triangular surface, causing multiple V-shaped imprint burn wounds on the skin. These wounds are in their healing stages as is evident from the formation of black crusts and a few are infected and covered with purulent exudates”.

Surendran said that the pathologist had also discovered fatty deposits in the liver although there were no food remains in the stomach.

“Together with the physical marks on his body, we believe that he was tortured and starved for several days before his death.”

Said Teluk Intan MP M Manogaran: “What we feared all along is true and that Kugan was beaten to death in custody.

The lawyer observed that in all his years as a lawyer, he had never come across such a bad autopsy report.

“I also cannot understand why the police had to inflict such injuries to him. They should have surely known that the measures they used would have ended in death,” said Manogaran.

The DAP representative said that if the police had wanted to inflict the abuse to extract a confession, it would have been in vain.

“The courts have already established that confessions in custody are not admissible, so I don’t know why they still did it.”

Kapar’s A Manikavasagam said that from 2000-2004, 80 deaths in custody were recorded.

“We want action against all the officers, including the Selangor CPO. More than seven officers are involved in this and action must be taken in the interest of justice.”

Another prominent lawyer Gobind Singh Deo said it is time to make it mandatory for second autopsies when death occurs while the person is in police custody.

“The first one post mortem doesn’t even list down 10 percent of the injuries listed in the second one,” said Gobind.

He added that all future interrogations should be recorded on video.

Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmood said she too had never seen such injuries inflicted in a person’s body before and reminded the police not to act as the executioner.

“He has not even been brought to trial and yet died in custody,” said Dr Siti. “Such brutality is unimaginable and the time for setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.”

She also said that this was not a racial matter as the incident could have happened to anyone.

According to a representative of Kugan’s family, Ravi Roy, the report will be handed over to the Attorney General for further action today at 2.30pm.

“The family are satisfied with this report and we hope that serious action can be taken against the aggressors,” said Kugan’s uncle.

Kugan, 23, died at the Taipan police station in USJ, Subang Jaya on Jan 20, during questioning over alleged car thefts by a gang operating in the Klang Valley.

Soon after the press conference ended, heavy rain accompanied by gale-force winds descended upon Klang Valley yesterday.