KUALA LUMPUR, 13 May 2009: The Coroner’s Court here today ruled that no foul play was involved in the death of a labourer who died in a police lock-up six years ago.
Instead, Prakash Moses, 40, died to injury on the head when he fell while being detained at the Jalan Hang Tuah police lock-up on 18 Feb 2003.
Coroner Nazran Mohd Sham gave the verdict after 17 witnesses, including a pathologist from the Kuala Hospital, testified in the inquest into Moses’ death.
“The court rules that there are no elements of crime involved, and from medical reports from the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, confirmed that the deceased died at 7am on 18 Feb 2003, and as such classified his death as an accident,” he said.
Moses was detained on 14 Feb 2003, to assist police investigations into a drug-related case. He was reported to have fallen in the lock-up at 3am the following day and was taken to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital where he died three days later.
The inquest was held following a report by the deceased’s son, Steven Moses, 20, who claimed that his father was fine when he last visited him at the lockup.
Deputy public prosecutor Syaiful Nazrin Mohd Rahim prosecuted while counsel Amer Hamzah Arshad held a watching brief for Moses’ family.
Moses is one of a number of detainees who have died while in remand in recent years. The case of A Kugan, who died on 20 Jan while in police custody, allegedly after being beaten, sparked national outrage after two conflicting pathology reports cast doubt on his cause of death. — Bernama
Ming says
I wonder how many autopsy reports were ordered for Moses’s case. Kugan had two only because people complained.
Eric says
PRDM has such low credibility, they now have to spin their every move. With the gracious help of another unofficial BN component: Bernama.
1BLACK Malaysia. Democracy First. Elections Now.
Siew Eng says
I wonder how many cases there are of people falling in lockups and dying because of that. Are people prone to falling in cells? Is there some architectural/layout defect? Suddenly, I have this idea for a sci-fi story – the prison cell that breaks people up, literally.
kuntakintae says
After the Kugan debacle, compounded by none other than the director general of health, does anyone believe any post mortem report – Malaysians or foreigners ? Our politicians are a joke; so are the courts and the justice system. The police are essentially court jesters; and the director general of health has certainly taken the medical profession and dropped it into that same dust bin.