The police should take full responsibility for the death of a detainee who fell from the 1st floor of the North Seberang Perai IPD building 2 days ago.
This incident happened whilst the detainee was in their custody. The law makes it clear that all steps must be taken to ensure that persons taken in for investigations are safe.
There must be a full inquiry into this case and the investigations must be carried out by independent police officers who were not involved in the investigations concerning the deceased or present at the scene at the time.
It is disappointing to note that even after a Royal Commission of Enquiry into custodial deaths in Teoh Beng Hock case, deaths like this continue to occur.
One of the options available is for the setting up of an inquest to look into the matter. That will assist in finding the reasons and causes leading to the death of the detainee but that alone may not be enough. There is still an urgent need for a study into the weaknesses of the system to protect persons in custody which has resulted in yet another death.
It is reported that this is the 10th death in police custody in Penang in just 9 months. Something must be done on an urgent basis to put a stop to this.
I call upon the Home Minister to look personally into this matter, to make sure that there is a full and independent investigation and to take action against those officers responsible for the death of the detainee and also to ensure that there are no more cases of this nature in future.