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Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email I just saw Deputy Minister Murugiah say that DPM Najib told him action will
be taken against Selangor Police Chief Khalid (NTV7 Chinese news 7.30pm). He
said the chief should have not simply said things without facts and figures following the death of Kuhan.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email This is really sad to read:
Five years ago, she became a single mother when her husband died of a heart attack. On Sunday, V. Letchumy lost her entire family when all four of her children drowned.
The 52-year-old was inconsolable over the death of her children S. Netthiah, 17, Prasanah, 16, Gopi, 14 and Ganeswaran, 10, during the funeral on Monday.
Letchumy’s younger brother, taxi driver Rajendran, 47, said the deaths were hard for the family to accept.
“Everyone is in shock. It all happened so suddenly,” he said.
Letchumy and her children were on their way to visit a relative on Sunday when they persuaded their mother to let them go for a short swim.
Rajendran said Letchumy relented because it was the school holidays and she let her nephew S. Veerasamy, 22, take them to Tanjung Balau at around 11am.
The siblings are believed to have been swept away by strong currents, with only Veerasamy surviving the tragedy.
The bodies of Netthiah, Prasanah and Ganeswaran were recovered 45 minutes later about 50m away from where they went missing. Gopi was only found at 9am the next day about 500m away.
Rajendran said his sister, who is from Pasir Gudang, was grief-stricken over her loss and could not stop crying.
He said that her husband had unexpectedly passed away five years ago from a heart attack.
“We don’t know how to console her. She keeps looking at her children’s photos and crying,” he said.
From a family of five, she is reduced to a single person. No more laughter, no more sibling fights. No more joy.
Let us pray that God gives Madam Letchumy strength to continue with her life. May the children’s souls journey on to a better life.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email As a normal citizen, I read with horror the report below:
All Federal Government directors of departments and agencies in Perak are banned from attending state-level meetings with immediate effect.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also said that, with immediate effect, federal agencies would only consider recommendations of Federal Village Development and Security Committees.
He said the move was to cut off the village committee appointed by the Pakatan Rakyat state government from access to Federal agencies.
“We will not hesitate to take disciplinary actions against federal agency directors if they attended meetings,” he told reporters after chairing the State Federal Action Council meeting here yesterday.
Zahid said agencies like the Drainage and Irrigation Department, Public Works Department, Health Department, Agriculture Department and the police were exempted from the ruling.
Noting that the Federal government only recognised the Federal Village Committees, their recommendations were therefore be considered legal.
“We do not recognise the recommendations of the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK),” he added.
Zahid said that among the issues that required the recommendations of federal committee were scholarship applications and entries into institutes of higher learning.
Why only 4 departments and police only allowed while the others are not? Will these be extended to all Pakatan states? Is there a valid reason for this seemingly biased and discriminatory action? How are development work going to take place if those involved are not allowed to attend meetings? Does it mean that people of Perak is being punished for voting differently in the last elections? Can the public initiate legal proceedings against the responsible parties for trying to create hatred among Perakians, or for neglecting their responsibilities?
If there’s no proper reason, this move will only backfire on the already damaged reputation of ruling party.
The creation of Federal JKKK last year has been lambasted by many people as it is considered as channel to provide funds directly from Federal government to “selected” groups (read: crony). Even if the intention is noble (ensure funds are channeled directly to grassroot), the existence of two committees in one area only begets more problem. A ship cannot have two captains, a party cannot have two leaders.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email I was informed at noon that the funeral will be held today afternoon at Kinrara, Puchong. However, the family decided to follow MIC’s Vell Paari idea to go for second post-mortem at different hospital. So, the deceased was sent to UMCC and funeral postponed to another day.
Meanwhile, both Murugiah and Devamany provided reasons for their presence at the mortuary after the police said that two deputy ministers will be questioned:
Devamany, who is also MIC treasurer-general, told Bernama the Sepang police had contacted him over the statement.
“I got a call from someone who told me about this case and hoped for my presence at the hospital where the post-mortem was conducted. It was not only to seek the truth for the family of the man but also to calm down the situation and ensure that it was under control,” he said.
Murugiah said he went to the hospital after receiving a few calls from the media about a commotion there, and that he and Devamany managed to calm the situation.
“My duty as per the Public Complaints Bureau is to check on complaints from the public. Is it an offence to address public complaints?” he said.
Murugiah also said that he had briefed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok on the suspect’s death and that the minister had agreed to raise the matter with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Malaysiakini provided a longer explanation by both the deputy ministers:
When contacted, Murugiah (centre in photo) said that Kugan’s family members had already entered the morgue by the time he arrived there.
“I got a call from the victim’s family member at nearly 11pm and I rushed to the hospital… by the time I got there the family members had already rushed into the morgue,” he said.
“The reason I went there was to calm the situation as some of them were frantic after looking at the injuries on his (Kugan) body.”
Murugiah added that he also felt intimidated when members of the victim’s family began shouting at him, blaming the government as well the police force for Kugan’s death.
He said that he went to the hospital in his capacity as the chief of Public Complaints Bureau after receiving the call that night.
“I even called the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Musa Hassan and he promised that he would investigate the matter and assist the family,” Murugiah said.
He also said that he was ready to cooperate with the police on their investigation.
Devamany: I’ll cooperate too
Devamany also said that he went to the morgue to “help the situation” after receiving calls from MIC Youth leaders.
“I went there to see how I can help the situation… these are poor people and they are not empowered enough to tackle this by themselves,” he told Malaysiakini.
Devamany said although the family members were distraught yet they listened patiently to explanation from the hospital’s director on the post-mortem.
“The director assured that they would act fairly and would present the facts accurately,” said Devamany, who is currently in his constituency Cameron Highlands to deal with a landslide problem in a Hindu cemetery there.
Asked on the police probe on him for allegedly barging into the morgue, the MIC treasurer said that he was willing to cooperate with the police “as long as justice is served”.
NST frontpaged their reasons as well:
“I have no problem giving my statement,” said Murugiah, adding that he received a call from one of Kugan’s family members at 11pm on the alleged police brutality.He said he reached the hospital at 12.30am and was shocked to see the commotion there.
“The doors to the mortuary were open. People were surrounding the body and photographers were taking pictures.
“I was taken aback and wondered why the hospital allowed people into the area,” he said, adding that emotions were running high.to calm the situation by calling Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, who promised that the police would investigate the matter thoroughly.
He said Kugan’s family was satisfied with the police assurance and he left the scene at 3.30am. On Wednesday, Murugiah said he met the hospital director for an explanation on why the crowd was allowed into the morgue.
“The director said they were emotional and his staff were unable to control them.”
Meanwhile, Devamany, who is currently in his constituency in Cameron Highlands, said he was willing to give his cooperation when he was back in town.
He, too, claimed he received a call from one of Kugan’s family members. He said the body was not in the mortuary, but in a room outside, where everyone was allowed to view it.
“As a representative of the MIC, I had to listen to their grievances,” he said, adding that he was there between 1am and 3.30am.
I say Devamany scored some brownie points here. This is what the public expects – service 24 hours a day. Being politician is not easy, so one should know before sinking into it.
By the way, police has confirmed that investigation will continue since there are allegations of police abuse even though the post-mortem concluded death is due to liquid in lungs.
There are more related reports at www.mpkapar.com (YB Manikavasagam’s website) as well including a theory that the police or some other big name is also involved in the car theft syndicate. All this is still hearsay without concrete evidence.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Look at how NST made the family members and members of the public into a mob! Can’t believe this!!! And deputy ministers (Murugiah and Devamany) is being sought for questioning. This is one of few times where DAP, PKR, MIC and MS members were at the same place to show support over another case of death in police custody. Meanwhile the post-mortem result shows death was not due to foul play. But how to explain the injuries on the body? Was it inflicted during the arrest of the deceased?
The post-mortem indicates “fluid in lungs” as cause of death. How can fluid enter the lungs? That is the logical question one would ask. This person never had history of asthma, say the family. One possibility is being exposed to wet condition for prolonged period until moisture enters the lungs (something like pneumonia), I guess. Sleeping shirtless without blanket under air-cond daily or while hair/body is still wet can cause this as well.
So, even if its was not directly death due to injuries, circumstances and the environment of the custody may have led to the death.
Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said police would record the statements of two deputy ministers in connection with the morgue incident in which the body of A. Kugan, who died in detention, was tampered with.
He said the post-mortem showed that Kugan, a suspected car thief who was being questioned at the Taipan police station in Subang Jaya, died of liquid in his lungs.
… However, on Tuesday, Kugan’s family and members of the public allegedly barged into the Serdang Hospital mortuary where the body was being kept, ripped off his shirt, moved his body and took some photographs.
Deputy Minister to be quizzed over mortuary mob attack
SUBANG JAYA, THURS:
A deputy minister is expected to be called up by police for his alleged involvement in the mob attack at the Serdang hospital mortuary on Tuesday night.
Post-mortem revealed no foul play in the death of police detainee A. Kugan at the Subang Taipan police station.The mob had allegedly pushed out a medical assistant and his two staff before conducting their own checks on the body.
Malaysiakini also reported the same:
The police will record the statements of two deputy ministers over yesterday’s incident where some 50 people barged into the Serdang Hospital mortuary where the body of a 22-year-old youth who died in police custody was being kept.
It is learnt that Deputy Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department T Murugiah and SK Devamany were present at the morgue.
Meanwhile, MIC Youth’s advisor Vell Paari has outlined the next course of action:
He also said that he had informed Youth chief T Mohan to seek a second medical opinion on the cause of death.
“We should not just rely on the hospital post-mortem,” he told malaysiakini.
He said that the second independent medical report would help indentify the true cause of Kugan’s death.
“We talk and fight for the Palestine and Sri Lankan cause but similar atrocities are committed right under our noses. This has to stop and the cowards who caused the death of Kugan must be charged with murder,” he said.
Vell Paari also said that the party’s youth wing will work to set up a committee to monitor the welfare of all Indians under police custody.
“This will also avoid this sort of abuse and murder in the future,” he added.
I leave you with more photos from the mortuary, this time taken during MIC people’s visit, courtesy of Novinthen.
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