Shocking birthday news for family

A family member who was convicted of assault was found dead in police custody.

PETALING JAYA: A 47-year-old jobless man had just turned 48 today but he did not get to greet his birthday with his family members – he was found dead in police custody.

M Ragu, from Kampar, was detained at the Kampar police station over the weekend pending transfer to Tapah prison.

His family members received the shocking news that he had died in police custody.

Ragu was convicted and sentenced to 10 months in jail by a magistrate’s court in Kampar on Friday for assaulting a restaurant owner after a squabble on Wednesday.

Ragu’s nephew M Veeganes told FMT that Ragu chose to surrender himself to the police on the same day the incident took place.

“Today morning the policemen came to our house and told us that Ragu has passed away in police custody.

“Until now we were not told the reason for his death, and we were not allowed to see his body,” he told FMT by phone.

Veeganes said the family members were extremely sad at Ragu’s death and demanded to know why he was still detained in the police station after his conviction.

“The court delivered the verdict at 8am, and the Tapah Prison was just half an hour away from Kampar. Why was he still kept in the police station?” he asked.

He claimed the police have recorded on their closed-circuit television (CCTV) that Ragu was weeping at 4am today, and was found dead at 7am.

“They did not give us any reason why he died. They also refused to show us the CCTV footage,” he claimed.

Human Rights Party pro-term secretary P Uthayakumar said he has asked the police to allow Ragu’s family members to take pictures of the deceased but the request was shot down.

“It shows that they have got something to hide,” he said.

He alleged that there had been repeated cases of deaths in police custody but the matter had been covered up.

He pointed out that despite the deaths of Aminulrasyid Amzah, A Kugan and C Sugumaran in which the police had been implicated, no one had been charged with murder.

“Until now, not a single policeman was charged with murder. There is also no history of any inquest being held where the magistrate’s court would recommend the policemen be charged with the crime.”

“The most that you can expect is to see the policemen be charged with assault, like in Kugan’s case,” he said.

He said there was a dire need to mete out heavy sentences to the black sheep in the police force and the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

Meanwhile, the officer-in-charge in Kampar police station, who was only identified as Teoh, said the police would issue a statement on the case tomorrow.