Coroner Siti Shakirah Mohtarudin today gave an open verdict during the inquest on the death of R Gunasegaran, ruling that the cause of death of the victim, who died while in police custody, cannot be conclusively proven.“This is an open verdict case as witness testimonies were not enough for a conclusion,” she said.An open verdict means that the evidence brought before the court could not enable it to determine the cause of death. The court therefore only records the death.
Reading out her conclusion at the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court today, Siti Shakirah said that she came to the verdict because witnesses who testified on the second post-mortem only stated that the injuries he sustained in custody are likely to be the cause of death.“The death was caused by one of two things, but I cannot conclude if it was true that the injuries found in the post-mortem were due to beatings,” she said.
The other possible cause of death, she said is the “lethal level” of drugs found in his system in the first post-mortem.During the inquest, witnesses present at the Sentul police station where Gunasegaran died on July 16, 2009 told the court that they had seen Lance Corporal Mohd Faizal Mat Taib kick the deceased but did not do anything to stop their colleague.
In his submission, M Visvanathan, the lawyer for the deceased's family, argued that Gunasegaran died due to injuries sustained from being allegedly kicked in the chest by Mohd Faizal, and not due to a drug overdose as claimed by deputy public prosecutor Shashitah Mohamad Hanifa.Visvanathan also submitted that a “conspiracy” by certain quarters to conceal the truth with post-mortem photos insufficient to show a wound measuring 28cm x 8cm x 5cm, recorded in the second post-mortem.
The second post-mortem could not conclusively prove cause of death as the body was not preserved properly, he submitted.He also agreed with Shashitah's submission that the police officers were lax in discharging their duties, and failed to lodge a report on the death even to this day.A report on the deceased's arrest was only lodged after Gunasegaran was pronounced dead, while conflicts of interest exist as the investigating officers in the death of custody case were also from the Sentul police station.
Review to be filed at High Court
Speaking to reporters later, Visvanathan said that a review will be filed at the High Court.“There were witnesses who positively identified who made the assault.“How is it possible for the man who was identified to walk out as a free man?” he asked.The deceased's sister R Ganga Gowri, who was in tears following the verdict, too expressed disappointment.“The truth is, he died in custody due to the injuries. My brother died for nothing,” she said.
Ganga Gowri will be lodging a police report against the police this afternoon, for not reporting Gunasegaran's death to this date, for ignoring witness testimonies saying that the deceased was assaulted, and for failure to stop the assault.A police report will also be lodged against Hospital Kuala Lumpur for mismanagement of the remains, resulting in the body rotting.
The pathologist in the second post-mortem testified that he could have come to a conclusion on the cause of death if the body was in a better state.“The body had decomposed to the extent that brain matters had turned fluid and had to be moved in a pail,” Visvanathan said.Gunasegaran is only one of many deaths in custody cases, which the Bar Council estimates to average out to one case a day.In July 2009, the Dewan Rakyat was told that some 2,029 detainees died in prisons, rehabilitation centres and immigration detention centres between 2002 and June 1, 2009.
Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/146293
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