On the way home on Wednesday (10 June) 53 years old Ganapragasam was detained by the police for the investigation for theft.
Only the following day when he was taken to court for remand order, his wife was informed about the nature of his arrest. According to his wife, she saw bruises on his face.
Ganapragasam told the magistrate that he was assaulted by the police while in their custody. However, on the 14 June (Sunday), the wife of the deceased was told to be at the mortuary of University Hospital.
No one was allowed to view the corpse except for his wife, not even his teen-age children. The next-of-kin, politicians and friends gathered at the compound of the mortuary waited for Ganapragasam’s wife with anxiety.
She related that she was only allowed to view her husband’s corpse which was tilted sideway with visible bruises. Other than looking at what her eyes were allowed to see, she was even disallowed to touch her husband’s body. The vital question is, WHY?
She decided to lodge a police report at the hospital police beat base with the help Miss Renuka, a lawyer from the Human Rights committee.
Only the following day when he was taken to court for remand order, his wife was informed about the nature of his arrest. According to his wife, she saw bruises on his face.
Ganapragasam told the magistrate that he was assaulted by the police while in their custody. However, on the 14 June (Sunday), the wife of the deceased was told to be at the mortuary of University Hospital.
No one was allowed to view the corpse except for his wife, not even his teen-age children. The next-of-kin, politicians and friends gathered at the compound of the mortuary waited for Ganapragasam’s wife with anxiety.
She related that she was only allowed to view her husband’s corpse which was tilted sideway with visible bruises. Other than looking at what her eyes were allowed to see, she was even disallowed to touch her husband’s body. The vital question is, WHY?
She decided to lodge a police report at the hospital police beat base with the help Miss Renuka, a lawyer from the Human Rights committee.
A press conference was held after which. Adun for Bukit Lanjang, Miss Elizabeth Wong and MP Sivarasa were on hand to assist the bereaved family.
It was so timely that when the press conference was over, Ganapragasam’s wife received a short message from one police inspector asking her to be at Sri Damansara police station who wanted to record her statement. She was exhausted and down over the incident and Elizabeth told the police that they could record her statement only when the wife is ready.
It is with hope and expectation that the coming events to follow on Ganapragasam’s case, more Malaysians will come out to give their moral support to this bereaved family. Since the government is promulgating 1Malaysia, this is the time to support such call. Don't wait until it comes to you and by then, there will be no one left to help you through!With such repeated cases of death at police custody, the civil society must be made aware and to remember that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
