I read the news report on Malay Mail Online about the recent death in police custody.
Quoting the police, the online paper said that despite showing no signs of discomfort, Ganeshwaran Gunasigeren was transported to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah and died along the way.
South Klang police chief Assistant Commissioner Shamsul Amar Ramli was also quoted as saying Ganeshwaran was taken to the hospital although a medical officer stated he looked healthy and was talking normally.
I spoke to Ganeshwaran’s mother at the mortuary. She told me a different story.
She was present, by chance, when her son was taken to the hospital. During a brief chat, Ganeshwaran told her he was kicked in the throat by police officers and refrained from eating for two days as he could not swallow food.
She told me Ganeshwaran had blood in his mouth and lost consciousness while talking to her.
The pathologists, however, said there were no visible signs of torture on Ganeshwaran’s body.
It’s therefore difficult to conclusively say police beating led to his death.
But the police were clearly negligent, yet again, in not acting swiftly despite Ganeshwaran showing signs of being unwell after not eating for two days and complaining of nausea.
According to his mother, Ganeshwaran had vomited earlier in the morning. And she also said that he had no history of asthma, as indicated by the police.
There is no reason for him to lie to his mother. And neither would she concoct an untrue story.
The police need to protect people under its custody, including providing adequate health care and swift hospitalisation.
In fact, such a suggestion has been made to the police and the Home Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, repeatedly.
Some 1,654 people have died in police custody from 2010 till February 2017.
Three people died in the first three months of this year.
Deaths in police custody demonstrate the abuse of due process, an abuse of the judicial process and an abuse of police powers.
It should be treated with the same urgency as murder enquiries to restore confidence in the police force.
And it’s time to set-up the long overdue Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) as it’s outrageous for the police to investigate themselves.
This is more so as the existing Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), created in 2011 by the government in place of the IPCMC, has clearly failed to rein in the number of deaths in police custody and other custodial deaths as well.
The police must change its stance and support the setting up of the IPCMC if it wants to uphold integrity, transparency and accountability.
Since the police continues to deny its officers use excessive force on detainees, shouldn’t it be courageous enough to submit itself to an independent external oversight body?
And given the contradictory statements by the South Klang Police Chief and Ganeshwaran’s mother it is necessary for the government to hold a formal inquiry into this matter in the interest of public accountability and good governance.