Gunasegaran – The Cry from a Silent Voice

The morning of 12 August 2010, at the corridor of level 2, Duta Court, there were sporadic crowd of people at the entrance of their respective courtroom.

As usual, the courtroom where Gunasegaran case was held saw the usual dotted heads from NGO and reporter from the Tamil newspapers.

The atmosphere today at court room 11 was filled with the usual mundane mood except for a few journalists who were present for the submission of Gunasegaran death in police custody after the inquest that had stretched over a year.

The deceased pro bono lawyer, M Visvanathan, emerged from the court room and announced that the submission will be on 13 September 2010.

His inquisitiveness cannot be quenched and his ferocious determination to get to the bottom of it all was beyond words. And wanting to tie up a few more details, new eye-witnesses will be called up to stand in the witness box on the 27 August 2010.

The past inquests proved stark discrepancies in all six police evidence.

Three eye-witnesses identified positively the police officer who had hit and kicked Gunasegaran which resulted in the fatality.

Marks found on the body of the deceased could not even escape from untrained eyes.

Does the date 16 July ring a bell? Of course it does! It is the day that Teoh Beng Hock left to be with god. But people could hardly remember that between a gap of a few hours on the same day, Gunasegaran succumbed to the injuries inflicted on him.

Both their passing was in the hands of the authorities that are expected to perform their job professionally but nay. Their lives vapourized in the thin air and with untold subjugation of physical and mental abuses.

As for Teoh Beng Hock, he was blessed with a job and family, but Gunasegaran was jobless and his closest next-of-kin is his only sister.

Teoh Beng Hock’s passing had activated public outcry, but for Gunasegaran, it was a silent cry.

Renowned lawyers spearhead Teoh Beng Hock’s inquest while Gunasegaran was left to be forgotten.

God is great! He works in a mysterious way and He knows justice should prevail.

Gunasegeran’s sister with little education and financially constrained was left in the lurch. What could she do except to cry out for help because she had lost her only sibling in a cruel fashion.

When news reached C. Sekaran, he desperately tried to reach out to help and was rewarded with an answer. He found lawyer M.Visvanathan.

There are so many similarities between Teoh Beng Hock and Gunasegaran. But unfortunately for Gunasegaran, he was alone.

Are we still blind to virtue and conveniently forget about human values? We are the same human species but shy away from the colour of the skin. This can be a pathetic statement, but say what you like it does not bother me a bit!

When People’s Parliament highlighted the frightening figures -1805, it represents the number of deaths in police custody. Are the figures not alarming enough to scare the hell out of you or to wait until someone you love share the same fate?

Please ponder over it because as a member of the civil society, our awareness counts to the last digit.