On 29th August, 2021, I urged the public prosecutor to charge the man who beat up an elderly security guard (Theva Sagayam, 64), at an Ipoh condominium last year with murder in the wake of the victim’s death last Friday.
I asked that the prosecution withdraw the assault charge and push for a murder charge and fresh proceedings against the accused now.
Yesterday, the police reclassified the case as murder, under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
I welcome this move by the police, request the AG’s office to immediately step in and take necessary and swift action to charge the accused for murder. There is no reason for any delay, bring the matter to court as soon as possible.
Let there also be due process for the accused.
It has also been known that the accused is said to hold a senior position in a political party and has some influence in politics and is politically affiliated with the Executive.
Therefore, it is our humble request that the separation of powers be upheld and there will not be any interference from the Executive. We hope the relevant authorities will conduct their duty with integrity without any external influence.
This is a high profile case of public concern, the earlier the case is reclassified the better it is as it concerns the public’s confidence in the system of our government, the DPP and the police.
I would suggest that this matter be looked at thoroughly. Yesterday the police went to the house of the deceased and took photos of the home of the victim prior to his death. This looks like the police investigation is still going on but I urge the police to wrap up investigations as soon as possible.
I would also urge the police to be accommodating to the victim’s family and give them time to complete their prayers of mourning, before calling the family to be investigated.
In this respect, I want to thank the team of lawyers who yesterday agreed to send a letter to the AG, asking for the case to be reclassified as murder. Among the lawyers are Sungkai assemblyman A. Sivanesan, Selvam Nadarajah, Omar Kutty and Mahajoth Singh.
We are also perturbed in the first instance this case was classified under section 335 of the Penal Code which is a minor charge if found guilty the accused may face only a maximum of four years sentence and a fine of RM4,000.
The team of lawyers discussed the matter collectively over the last weekend. It was decided that this case has to be referred to the AG and reclassified for murder. We hope there is no compromise in this matter and a full proof case is brought to court.
We will be there to do a watching brief of the case.