Well, at least some good thing came out of Kugan’s death. MIC Youth is setting up a watchdog committee to “monitor and prevent such deaths from happening in the future”.

The Youth wing’s coordinator T Mohan told Malaysiakini that the committee would consist of 10 people, the majority of whom were lawyers and non-party members.

The committee itself will be headed by lawyer SP Muthuvelu, said Mohan.

The formation of the committee was discussed and agreed by the MIC Youth in a council meeting this morning.

“Muthuvelu will be the chairperson on the committee. He will be assisted by seven other lawyers, none of whom are from the party,” said Mohan.

He added that the Youth wing’s secretary C Shivarraj and another person would be the two representative of the party in the committee.

“We wanted independent people in the committee. Of the eight lawyers, four of them are from non-governmental organisations,” he added.

He further said that the main purpose of the committee was to look into custodial deaths and to give feedback to the government on how to stop such deaths from happening again.

“The committee has been given three weeks to compile a list and conduct a research of past custodial deaths. We want to get to the root of this problem…to find out why it happens, especially to youths from the Indian community.

“And as soon as the committee has compiled a list of previous cases and our findings on the reasons for these cases, a memorandum will be submitted to the government and the police,” he said.

Aim is to stop custodial deaths

Mohan also said that the committee would take a keen interest in the Kugan case.

“We want the committee to tell us how the family can be compensated and what else could be done to help them.”

However he said the main thrust of the committee was to make sure that no more persons end up dead while in police detention.

“For starters this committee will be watching the police closely in the event there is another custodial death. In the long run, the committee hopes to put up workable proposals to ensure there are no more custodial deaths,” he said.

The Youth wing’s advisor S Vell Paari told Malaysiakini that the objective of the committee was to ensure that the youth wing was playing its role in protecting the Indian community.

“We can’t be doing things on ad hoc basis, trying to pool people every time something like Kugan’s case happens.

“That’s why we wanted this committee to be there on a permanent basis to look on such matters, to see how we can avoid them from happening altogether,” he said.

While Malaysiakini reported as above, NST had slightly different story:

MIC Youth has set up a watchdog committee to monitor cases of brutality and deaths in police lock-ups.

The newly formed committee comprises seven lawyers and three representatives from non-governmental organisations, all members of MIC Youth. [MK said only 2 from MIC Youth and 8 lawyers]

Acting MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said the committee had already begun compiling the details of the death of A. Kugan from the police and his family.

The 22-year-old died in the police lock-up at Taipan, Subang Jaya, on Jan 20.

He had been in detention from Jan 14 for investigation into his possible involvement in the theft of several luxury cars.

“These details will be contained in a memorandum to be submitted to the inspector-general of police and deputy prime minister within a week or two. [MK reported 3 weeks]

“We want the police to take action, including specialised training, to make its personnel more responsible for safeguarding human life so there is no repeat of a case like Kugan’s.”

Speaking after chairing the national MIC Youth council meeting yesterday, Mohan said the police and Home Ministry should re-open and thoroughly investigate every death in police custody.

“The reports of these investigations must be made public and action must be taken against the personnel involved to restore public confidence in the police force.”

Mohan said although people of all races had died in police custody, records show that in the last eight years about 80 Indians had died in lock-ups, possibly due to abuse by the police or by fellow prisoners.

“The police should also appoint more Indian officers to high positions. They would be better equipped to handle young Indian offenders and spread anti-crime awareness.

“Currently the highest rank Indian police officers have reached is Senior Assistant Commissioner I,” he said, adding MIC Youth was planning prayers for Kugan at the Klang Sivan temple on Friday evening.

By the way, does anyone keep track how many committees have been formed by MIC/other parties and their status so far? We don’t want it to be like some entities – many committees, but no action nor results.