List of Malaysian Indian Abused and Died Under Police Custody

J Saravanan Found Hanged In Air Molek prison in Johor. Belived to beaten to death by Prison Personnell

2009-11-16T22:09:00.000-08:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

J Saravanan

15/11/2009

J Saravanan was found dead in his cell at the Air Molek prison in Johor.

According to the authorities, J Saravanan hanged himself using a pillow cover tied to a bar of his cell door.

However, his family, refused to believe that Saravanan would have taken his own life and suspect foul play.

HRP Johor Chief Y.Mohan said deceased uncle Selvaraj and his brother Chandran went to the mortuary around noon. “They saw the body covered with bruises and blue-black marks. So the family thinks that Saravanan could have been beaten and this could have led to his death.

Y.Mohan also said that the uncles were barred from taking photographs of the injuries by a doctor, who told them that it was against procedures.

Malaysian Police shot dead 5 Indians

2009-11-08T22:25:00.000-08:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

1. Govindarajan Arumugam

2. Loganathan Gopi

3.Visvalingam Mookaiyah

4. Serenthiran Ramapathi

Ebinesan Aruldas

08/11/2009

Another 'shoot to kill' incident which sees Malaysian Indian shot dead by the Malaysian police.

All five of them shot death for only being suspect who responsible for at least 10 armed robberies around Klang Valley since last year.

Police side of story said these men fired 1st before police return fire and kill all of them.

R.Gunasegaran Severely Beaten and Asaulted to Death. Another Death In Malaysian Police Custody.

2009-07-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

R. Gunasegaran

July 16, 2009

R. Gunasegaran, aged 31, was arrested on the evening of 16th July, 2009 in Sentul.

His family members were later informed that Gunasegaran had, that same day, died, due to drug abuse-related causes.

Similarly, a copy of the burial permit, issued by the hospital authorities, states that Gunasegaran died from drug-related causes.

Since first learning of the death of Gunasegaran, the family of the deceased have since been in contact with eye-witnesses to Gunasegaran’s arrest and detention by the police authorities and have been informed that:

i) at the time of his arrest, Gunasegaran was subjected to physical assault by a member of the police force; and

ii) at the Sentul police station, where Gunasegaran and several other arrestees were taken, Gunasegaran was subjected to further assaults by the same police officer who had assaulted him earlier, but with much greater severity, causing Gunasegaran to lose consciousness which he never regained until his death.

A. Gnanapragasam whose body was found dead in a lock-up at the Damansara police station. Believed to be beaten to death.

2009-06-11T22:58:00.000-07:00

A. Gnanapragasam

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

A. Gnanapragasam

June 10, 2009

A suspected thief was found dead in a police lock-up after a guard noticed the 53-year-old man lying flat beside the toilet.

The deceased has been identified as A. Gnanapragasam, a wireman who was arrested on June 10 for allegedly breaking into a house in Sungai Buloh in the early hours of the morning.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamed said the deceased, whose body was found at around 8.05am yesterday, had been placed in a lock-up with four others at the Damansara police station.

The guard, he said, had immediately called the ambulance.

When met at the mortuary, the wife of the dead man, M. Manimatalai, 40, said she suspected foul play as when she last met him on Friday, he had a bruise on his right eye.

“I saw that he had a black eye. I was also informed that when he was brought before a Petaling Jaya magistrate for a remand order, he had apparently told the magistrate that he was being beaten and mistreated by the police while in custody,” said the saleswoman and mother of six.

P.Uthayakumar and K.Batmanathan, were allegedly beaten up by the police

2009-03-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Torture and Abuse
P Uthayakumar and K Batmanathan		March 26, 2009	Two Indian youths, P Uthayakumar and K Batmanathan, were allegedly beaten up by the police while looking for the detained brother of one of the youths. P Venayagam, the younger brother of Uthayakumar and M Khrishnan, the father of Batmanathan, have filed separate police reports on the matter at the Ipoh central police station. According to Khrishnan, he was notified by the police that one of his younger sons, Vijaya Kumar, had been detained at the Tamil Settlement in Chemor on March 25 to assist in investigations into drug abuse. According to the police report that he had filed, he claimed that: “On the night of March 25, my eldest son Batmanathan and his friend Uthayakumar had gone to the Chemor police station to check on his brother Vijaya Kumar. “However, he was refused and asked to leave the police station. At the same time, he saw Vijaya Kumar being beaten up by some policemen and wanted to intervene. ‘Beaten until he lost consciousness’ “The policemen then turned to beat Batmanathan up instead. He was also taken to the Ipoh district police headquarters, where he was beaten until he lost consciousness.” police brutality on youth in chemor perak 270309 05According to the complaint filed by Venayagam, he received a call from his older brother at 1.43am on Thursday, telling him that he too, had been beaten up in the police station. “On March 26 morning, my brother and his friend Batmanathan were ordered to attend the remand hearing of Vijaya Kumar at the Ipoh Magistrates Court. “However, both men were not seen in court. I feared for my brother’s safety as Batmanathan had been sent to the Ipoh General Hospital for treatment. Told to contact an investigator “On Thursday night, I called the telephone number that my brother had used in the police station to call me. “I was greeted by a man who spoke in Malay. He told me to contact an investigator then hung up.” When contacted by Malaysiakini, Khrishnan also confirmed that both Uthayakumar and Batmanathan were taken by police personnel to the Ipoh General Hospital for treatment. He also remarked that that his son sustained swells and bruises on his eyes, lips, ears and arms.

Kedah : 6 Indians Gunned Down By Malaysian Police

2009-02-19T22:50:00.000-08:00

Santhana, Pannir, DHILIP, Vadivelan

Elangovan, Gurusamy

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

R. Elangovan

L.S. Santana

R. Pannir

S. Vadivelan

S. Gurusamy

R. Dilip Kumar

19 Feb 2009

6 suspected as armed robbers were shoot dead by police, none of the persons that were shot survived to be arrested...charged and tried.

What are the chances that all the 6 men are killed in the shooting?

Odd, that not a single policeman seem to have suffered any injury by reason of being shot...although they say that the 6 shot at the police...

8 policeman and 6 allegedly suspects in shoot-out, all 6 dies, and not a single police officer killed or sustained any bullet wound.

All victim shoot on top of their head. How this could be in a defends shoot out?

This incident needs some serious investigations?

Were the police targetting areas of the victims bodies that will cause death - or were they trying to just shoot, injure them and arrest them?

Why did this incident involve '... CID officers and personnel from Bukit Aman, Penang, Perak and Kedah...'. Why was it not just a group of police from Kedah ...and maybe Penang?

Were the 'specialists' brought in to do this arrest...or maybe just do them all in? Serious questions that need answers.

There must be comprehensive investigation done NOW - and it will be interesting to see where the police bullets landed.

After killing 6 of them, it is very very wrong for the police to make allegations or implications that these were 'very bad people' - i.e. robbers, ' high on the police’s wanted list for the past two years', and “They were part of a group with links to the notorious ‘Gang 8’ that was actively involved in criminal activities in Kulim."

The dead cannot defend themselves - and the Malaysian public should not blindly accept what the police says about these victims.

Interestingly, it happened in Kedah... (the place where there will be a by-election soon)

Interestingly, the 6 who were shot dead by police were all Indians - and Indians make up a significant percentage of voters..

Putting aside the by-elections, I wonder when we will see an end to these 'shoot to kill' incidents. Why were they killed? Was it accidental or was it intentional?

Were the pistols really seized from the robbers, now dead, and who cannot even dispute the police version of events.

Was the whole action of the police recorded?- Maybe that should become standard procedure. Then, we could always look at the recordings, and decide whether it was as the police said it happened. Whether the police used reasonable efforts to apprehend the 6 suspects alive?

S.KuganTortured and Beaten to Death

2009-01-25T04:05:00.000-08:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

S.Kugan

20 Jan 2009

Jan 15. Kugan Ananthan was detained. Crime : suspected involvement in an international car theft syndicate.

Jan 20th 2009. Kugan a/l Ananthan, 22 year old guy, after being detained for 5days, was found dead. DEAD in a Subang Jaya police station. Selangor police chief immediately claimed that it was a sudden death, and tried linking it with asthma. His family says he has no asthmatic problem. Pictures revealed injuries to his body, fresh wounds

Malaysian police poured boiling water on B Prabakar

2008-12-23T04:18:00.000-08:00

B. Prabakar tortured with boiling water

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Torture and Abuse

B Prabakar

December 23, 2008

27years old car park attendant has alleged that he was tortured during interrogation by police who beat him with a rubber hose and splashed boiling hot water on his body.

B Prabakar said he was picked up from his work place at Sri Hartamas on Dec 23 and taken for interrogation at the Brickfields police district headquarters where he was repeatedly beaten, kicked and stepped-on by at least 10 police personnel.

R. Suria Found Hanged In Police Lock-up

2008-11-22T03:21:00.000-08:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

R.Suria

22 November 2008

As usual the police never inform the family the arrest of suspect and only informed them the death of suspect. This is done consistenly in almost most of the death in police custody.

ALOR STAR: A 29-year-old man detained in connection with several rape cases and an armed robbery in Kulim was found dead in the Kulim police headquarters lock-up on Saturday.

Police found R. Suria, of Taman Lobak in Kulim, hanging from a towel tied to a beam about 6pm.

State police chief Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan said Suria had been detained in Jitra several days before that.

He said Suria was believed to been dead for at least 30 minutes before his body was found. Suria's mother, S. Kanaghambal, 54, said: "I can't accept that he had hanged himself. He was mentally and physically healthy all this while."

Six months pregnant Malaysian born Rajeswary (22) “detained without trial” and delivered her baby at Lenggang detain centre

2008-09-08T01:55:00.000-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Abuse
Rajeswary	22	September 08, 2008	1) Police Force. Six months pregnant Rajeswary was arrested on suspicious being a Sri Lankan in Brickfields for having lost her identity card and not being able to remember her identity card number and her less than satisfactory command of the Malay language. Had the arresting police personal asked her the relevant questions about her whereabouts, where she studied and at least two references that could vouch for her, there would have been no necessity to arrest her. But things have come to a stage in Malaysia generally that when the police see an Indian they see a suspect worthy of being harassed or detained without proper investigation or evidence. An immediate finger point check would have revealed that Rajeswary was Malaysian born. 2) Junior Magistrates dispensing Justice. Rajeswary was given a trial by a “qualified and independent” Magistrate to two months jail, we presume under Malaysia’s “Summary Justice” lasting a few minutes. This learned Magistrate did not bother sending Rajeswary for finger print test or asking the police to verify her references before sentencing her to two months imprisonment. Sending someone to jail has not been done with extreme caution. Magistrates are also known to be “friendly” with the police. Magistrates must have at least seven year standing before being allowed to dispense justice especially sending people to jail. 3.) Indian NGO Rajeswary was lucky to have bumped into an Indian NGO member by chance when taken to a clinic to treat her daughter. The Malaysian Indian Youth Council had succeeded in tracing her birth certificate from her Tamil school, procured a confirmation letter from the National Registration Department in Putrajaya and eventually secured her release together with her now eight month old baby who probably has not been issued with a certificate only for her to be arrested and imprisoned like her mother in twenty years time. And the cycle goes on especially for the Indian community.

N. Logeswaran 10-year-old , abused by Malaysian Police in Police station.

2008-08-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

Head injury: Logeswaran’s mother
P. Santhi pointing to one of the injuries
he allegedly suffered during his ordeal.

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Tortured and Abuse

N. Logeswaran

August 5, 2008

The ethnic Indian mother of a 10-year-old boy has accused the police of torturing her son, slapping and choking him and scalding his leg while questioning him for allegedly stealing his school teacher’s purse. The incident occurred Aug 5 after N. Logeswaran was taken to a police station at Kampar near Ipoh in Perak state, even though the purse, money (containing RM 700 - roughly $200) and other documents were not found on the boy.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) deputy chairman M. Sarasvathy, who took up his case, submitted a memorandum to the Perak police Tuesday alleging that the police, in order to get the boy to confess, slapped him on his face while two policemen tried to choke him.

“They even tried to melt some plastic on the boy’s private parts,” said Sarasvathy, outside the Perak police contingent headquarters, The Star newspaper said Wednesday.

Logeswaran’s mother P. Santhi said her son suffered head injuries as a result of the police beating.

“The police also took out a parang (dagger) and a pistol to threaten the boy,” Saraswathy said, adding that Logeswaran was also handcuffed and locked up in a dark room.

“He is now traumatised by the incident,” said Sarasvathy, adding that he suffered injuries on the back of his head, wrists and leg after the ordeal.

Logeswaran was picked up from his school at 12.30 p.m. last Wednesday and was only released at 10.45 p.m. the same day. His parents were not informed about the incident.

He was taken to the Kampar Hospital at 11 p.m. after complaining of headaches and after he started vomiting, said Sarasvathy.

He was transferred to Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun at midnight for observation and was discharged Monday.

Uthaya Chandran Found Death in Prison

2008-04-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
Uthaya Chandran	23	April 22, 2008	A 23 years old, Uthaya Chandran was found dead in Sungai Buloh prison. Uthaya Chandran, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on 22 April died whilst in custody at the Sungai Buloh prison.He is believed to be beaten to death.

24 years old Mariammah was manhandled by Malaysian Police

2008-04-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

Mariamah also alleged that the Policeman also kicked her back and hips several times and blindfolded her when this beating was taking place.

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Torture and Abuse

Mariammah

April 17, 2008

IPOH (17/4) – A young girl launched police report against a Police Officer and other Police Personnel’s on the complaint that she was manhandled, usage of vulgar words and sexually harassed while she was under investigation at the Police Station at Ipoh. The 24 years old women stated in her report that the police picked up her from Balai Police Menglembu on the 02/04/08 at 02.00am after she made a Police report stating her motorbike no: AGJ 102 was missing. Mariammah, a mother of 2, was remanded for 2 weeks to help on a murder case on which, usage of the missing motorbike in the murder case.

The Policeman who came with other male officers arrested her and took her with police car with male police officers only. She was remanded till 13/04/08 and the Police officers started to torture her since 05/04/08 till 08/04/08 for no reason. Mariamah also alleged that the Policeman also kicked her back and hips several times and blindfolded her when this beating was taking place. Also she says the police forced her to admit that her husband was involved in the murder case which happens few days earlier before her arrest. The Police arrested and forced her to agree with the accusation. After few hours another policeman came and tortured her verbally and told her she would be striped naked if did not agreed.

Soon after she was released on 13/04/08, she came to Ipoh Barat office to inform the incident and asked Mr.Kulasegaran (DAP - Ipoh Barat) for help. Mr.Kula, with his secretary, took her to lodge a police report and at that time, the computers were all down! After half an hour when a senior police officer came, the system was on again.

Indian Youth Tortured In Rawang Police Station

2008-01-06T16:39:00.000-08:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Torture and Abuse
2 Indian Youth		January 6, 2008	DATED 6FEB08, WHERE 2 MALAYSIAN INDIANS WERE TORTURED WHILE IN CUSTODY AT RAWANG POLICE SATTION. THEY WERE ASKED TO DRINK POLICEMEN’S URINE AND ALSO TOLD TO LICK THE TOILET BOWL IN THE POLICE STATION. HINDRAF ( POLICE WATCH HAVE BEEN HIGHLITING THIS ALL THIS WHILE) NOW IT HAS COME TO OPEN AIR. THE 2 INDIAN SUSPECTS WERE WARNED NOT TO REVEAL WHAT HAPPEN IN CUSTODY.

K.Letchumanan 30, Found Hanged in Police Custody. Family suspect Letchumanan was assaulted to death

2007-12-27T01:37:00.000-08:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Torture and Abuse

K.Letchumanan

December 18, 2007

Letchumanan was arrested last Friday and detained together with his friend, M Kanniyappan, 38, for suspected involvement in the theft of grass-cutting machines. Kanniyappan was released four days later.

According to the police, Letchumanan died by hanging himself with a blanket. The police claimed that the post-mortem report revealed the same.

Letchumanan’s family members claimed that they were not informed of his arrest and only knew of his death when police officers told them Friday evening.

“They are not satisfied with the explanation of the police. Letchumanan had six children to take care of. How could he have suddenly taken his own life like that?” said the family’s neighbour B Subramaniam, 45, when contacted.

Letchumanan’s sister Sarasvathy Thevi, 32, lodged a police report on Wednesday and requested the state police chief to investigate the circumstances surrounding her brother’s death.

The family is waiting for the findings of a second post-mortem report after they rejected the first.

Adding to the questions, Surendran claimed that the Raub police station has closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

“Leaving aside the allegation Letchumanan was assaulted to death, there’s a CCTV system in the lock-up. What were the police doing while Letchumanan was said to have hanged himself?” asked the lawyer.

ISA Detainee Sanjeev Kumar Tortured Brutaly by Malaysian Police

2007-09-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

Wife of Mr.Sanjeev Kumar

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
Sanjeev Kumar Krishnan	25	March 21, 2008	Sanjeev detained under ISA and physically, sexually and emotionally tortured. An initial police report had been filed by Sanjeev Kumar at the Taiping Police Station in April 2008, after he was warded at the Taiping Hospital upon receiving such brutal treatment in the camp, which included being forced to drink urine, eat stale food and being subjected to physical abuse such as being sodomized by a broom. The first report seems to be left unheeded. Sanjeev is now semi-paralysed and wheel chair bound, and has still not received the required medical attention.

19 year old M Vijaya Varman beaten in police custody

2007-01-04T05:04:00.000-08:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

M Vijaya Varman

January 4, 2007

Factory worker 19 year old M Vijaya Varman was rudely awakened in his home in Kuala Selangor by seven policemen at 2am, the morning of Jan 4. Despite the lack of a warrant, he was arrested in connection with the theft of electrical cables.

The cops handcuffed him, dragged him into the van, drove around and simply put, proceeded to beat the shit out of him over a period of four hours.

Excerpts from his police report:

Tangan saya telah digari dibelakang ibubapa saya telah bertanya kepada mereka sebab saya di tahan tetapi mereka enggan menjawab soalan tersebut. Kemudiannya saya terus dibawa menaiki sebuah van berwarna putih semasa didalam perjalanan keluar daripada kawasan perumahan taman seri Kuantan, saya telah dipukul oleh CID-CID tersebut.

Van tersebut telah berhenti berhampiran dengan sebuah pub/karaoke di pasir panjang. Kemudian mereka terus membelasah saya dan menyoal saya di mana kawan-kawan saya yang lain yang telah dituduh mencuri kabel. Mereka terus mendesak sambil memukul saya supaya mengakui perbuatan tersebut. Selepas itu saya dibawa ke lokasi lain dan mereka terus memukul saya.

Disabled Murugan Rajoo, 36 forced to urinate in pants by Selayang Municipal Council Malaysian

2007-01-04T04:47:00.000-08:00

Protest by disable community against harsh action
on Murugan by municipal council.

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

Murugan Rajoo

January 4, 2007

Murugan Rajoo, 36, was born without legs. On Jan 4, he was detained by the Selayang Municipal Council for over an hour, and forced to urinate in his pants.

Sequence of events: Mr. Murugan (front row in light blue shirt with hands raised) is a petty trader without a license who claims he first applied for one about 3 years ago. On Jan 4, his motorcyle-stall was confiscated by Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) officers, leaving Mr. Murugan stranded by the roadside.

Later that day, he went to reclaim his motorcycle from the MPS Rawang branch. There, he was confined by enforcement officers for an hour, and when he wanted to use the bathroom, the officers allegedly made fun of his lack of legs and refused to show him where the bathroom was, forcing him to urinate in his pants publicly.

The inhumane suffering and humiliation did not end there.

A number of civil society groups representing the differently able organised a group of 30 individuals to protest this cruel insult to even the most basic human dignity at the MPS headquarters, and prepared a memorandum for council president, Yang Dipertua Zainal Abidin Azim.

When they arrive, the group and its wheelchair bound participants were told they could meet the president, but that he refused to come down and see them; they would have to come up to the 9th floor to see him :|

Suresh Kunsekaran Found Hanged With Saree In Women Cell, In Bukit Sentosa Police Station

2006-10-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
Suresh Kunasekaran	26	October 27, 2006	Suresh was found dead, hanged with a saree from the window of a lock-up in the Bukit Sentosa police station, Serendah, on Friday about 2pm. He had been picked up by a patrol car and taken to the station about 11.30am after he was confronted by two policemen on motorcycles near his Taman Teratai home. His mother, Liew Kiew, 47, said police informed them that a post-mortem at Kuala Kubu Baru Hospital showed he had committed suicide. She was told of her eldest son’s death by police about eight hours later, at midnight. When their questions went unanswered, the family lodged a report at the Hulu Selangor police headquarters on Saturday. Siva Subramaniam and Suresh’s father, R. Kunasekaran, 47, a dispatch rider, visited the lock-up where Suresh was found hanged. Siva said: " I want the police to answer several questions. "How did the saree get into the lock-up? Assuming that the deceased managed to bring the saree into the lock-up, what were the police doing? Aren’t they supposed to monitor detainees? Secondly, what could have pushed the deceased to commit suicide only a few hours after being detained? "Thirdly, why the delay in informing the family of his death?"

S.Manimaran Totured and Beatan, He Died in Police Lockup

2005-03-27T01:14:00.000-08:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
S.Manimaran		March 10, 2005	Beaten and abused in police lockup. Body of victim full with injuries and electric shock marks.

Ravichandran Ramayah died under Malaysian Police custody

2004-12-28T08:27:00.000-08:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
Ravichandran Ramayah	38	December , 2004	In October, Ravichandran Ramayah, 38, died a week after being arrested and detained by the Penang North East Police Station. Family members claimed that medical needs were not provided to Ravichandran even though it was clear that his condition was very poor when he appeared in the Magistrate's Court for remand proceedings. The deceased then could only walk with the help of family members, causing the magistrate to order that he be brought to a hospital for medical attention. However, the police instead took the deceased to the Penang Prison, where he eventually died. State Police Chief Deputy Commissioner Othman Talib said that no wrongdoing had been committed on the part of the police. He said that a post-mortem showed that Ravichandran died from natural causes and there were no signs of physical abuse or assault.

A. Subramaniam died after allegedly being assaulted by prison officials at the Air Molek Prison in Johor

2004-06-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
A. Subramaniam		March 2004	n March, A. Subramaniam died after allegedly being assaulted by prison officials at the Air Molek Prison in Johor. Lawyer Uthayakumar lodged a complaint that Subramaniam, his friend S. Sherma Naidu and two other detainees had been assaulted and tortured by prison officials after they went on a hunger strike to protest against filthy conditions in the prison. Subramaniam then allegedly fell ill and died while being rushed to the hospital. His parents lodged a police report claiming police brutality and lack of care while under incarceration. However, Johor Police Chief Mukhtar Ismail said police investigations ruled out foul play in the detainee’s death. The prisons department also cleared the Ayer Molek authorities of any wrongdoing, as the findings of a post-mortem report and investigations of an inquiry board said that the youth had died of Septicaemia meningitis.

G. Francis Udayapan Found Drown In River After Arrested By Malaysian Police

2004-05-25T00:12:00.000-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
G. Francis Udayapan	24	April 2004	A body believed to be that of 24-year-old Francis Udayapan was found in a river in April. He had been arrested on suspicion of theft of a mobile phone in Kuala Lumpur. Police said he drowned after escaping, but relatives said he had been beaten and died in police custody. After public protests, a coroner's inquest was opened in August and was continuing at the end of 2004.

G. Nagandran Nails Pulled Out and Shoot Death By Malaysian Police

2004-01-14T00:51:00.000-08:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
G. Nagandran	23	Jan 13, 2004	Nails pulled out and shot dead by Malaysian police. Victim believed to be abused before shot dead.

L. Yoges Rao died in police custody

2003-12-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
L. Yoges Rao,	22	December, 2003	L. Yoges Rao, 22 years old, died in December 2003 in Sitawan police station, Perak. Following arrest on drug-related charges he was brought to his home where, ccording to his sister, she saw him beingpunched in his stomach by police. He was then taken into a locked room from where his sister said she heard sounds of assaults and cries of pain. About half an hour later he was brought out, vomiting blood. He died the next day. Despite evidence of abuse on Yoges’ body, the burial permit said he had died of a stomach ulcer. On receipt of complaints, suhakam initiated an investigation. Responses from the Perak deputy head of police included that the deceased vomited in the police station (narcotics office) and was sent to Seri Manjung hospital for treatment. The doctor who treated him was subsequently in charge of the post mortem and certified cause of death as “peritonitis with duodenal ulcer.”

19 year old student, Vikenes Vesvanathan shoot dead by Malaysian Police

2003-10-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

Vikenes Vesvanathan

October 10 , 2003

Vikenes Vesvanathan, a 19 year-old sixth-form student, and two of his friends, Katiravan Tamilchelvam (25) and Puvaneswaran Subramanium (24), were shot dead by police in Nilai, Negri Sembilan on 10 October 2003. Police claimed that the men had been staking out a bank
in preparation for a robbery, and that when their car was followed by police they sped away, crashed, and on alighting refused to surrender and opened fire on the police.

The police stated they returned fire killing all three men, whom they claimed were linked to at least 20 cases of
armed robbery. Police reportedly cordoned off the area where they were shot before the shooting, and reported that guns and bullets were found in the car.

Vikenes’ family disputed the police version of events insisting that their son, a high school student, had no criminal record and was not, as alleged, a “marksman and a weapons expert”. According to a police report lodged by a friend of Vikenes who saw his body in the mortuary,
there were two gunshot wounds to Vikenes’ chest, but his shirt (which the police refused to release) had no bullet holes in it. He also claimed that there were bruise marks on his face, legs and back. In addition, the brother of Puvaneswaran stated “there were about four or five
red bruises on the back of his [brother’s] body which looked like cane marks. His lips were also swollen and his nose bleeding.”

A post-mortem report found that there were two gunshot wounds to Vikenes’ upper chest. In findings that increased his relatives’ mistrust of the police version of events, the
report stated that the wounds showed bullets had exited the body, suggesting that the firing may have taken place at close range.

Ulaganathan Muniandy 19, died while in detention in Kajang police station, Malaysia

2003-07-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

Ulaganathan Muniandy

July 21, 2003

Ulaganathan Muniandy (19 year old) an Emergency Ordinance detainee was detained at Kajang Police Station since 12 May 2003 and died on 21 July 2003 at Kajang Police Station. According to the Kajang hospital, the cause of death “cannot be determined”, while family members of the deceased suspect foul play.

According to Ulaganathan’s mother - Tamil Selwee a/p Ramasamy, she found that there were few bruises on Ulaganathan’s body, including swollen eyes, bruises around the region of eyes and swelling on the legs during the visit she made to the Police detention centre.

When the family, with the help of SUARAM, Malaysian Bar Council and volunteer lawyer, filed a civil suit, the Attorney General finally requested for an inquest to be carried out - 4 years after the death.

Kannan Kanthan, 45, died in Batu Pahat Police Station in Johor

2003-02-28T08:58:00.000-08:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
Kannan Kanthan	45	February 28, 2003	In March, Kannan Kanthan, 45, died in Batu Pahat Police Station in Johor after being arrested three days earlier by the police. The deceased’s nephew, Sri Rajesh Kanna Viladan, said that when he saw Kannan in court a few days earlier, he was in good health. At the mortuary, Sri Rajesh identified the body and claimed that he found injuries on the deceased—a swollen neck and injuries on the left eye and right hand. Fourteen persons were arrested in relation to the death including three police personnel. Seven of them were later charged with causing the death of Kannan in Cell ‘C’ lockup. In addition, a police lance corporal Azmi Harun was charged with abetting the five by transferring the deceased from Cell ‘F’ to Cell ‘C’ and allowing him to be assaulted by the detainees. The two other police personnel were subjected disciplinary actions.

P. Lingeswaran beaten with rubber hose by Malaysian police

2003-02-20T06:29:00.001-08:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
P. Lingeswaran	19	February 20, 2003	In February, police personnel were alleged to have beaten P. Lingeswaran together with another 19-year-old, P. Poobalan, while the two were being detained at the Subang Jaya Police Station in Selangor. According to a police report, the duo was arrested and blindfolded at the police station before they were beaten with rubber hoses. The complainant said: "I saw that Poobalan had red bruises of about 6-inches long on his back and his right hand. There were also swellings on his head, feet and the soles of his feet. As for Lingeswaran, there were (similar) bruises on both his shoulders." The two youths were subsequently released by the Petaling Jaya Magistrate’s Court but were re-arrested the same day by the Subang Jaya police. Lawyer Uthayakumar said the two were re-arrested while they were seeking medical treatment for their injuries at the Universiti Hospital. The hospital staff apparently notified the police, who came and removed the two back to the Subang Jaya Police Station. The police later suddenly brought the two youth back to the hospital’s police booth and released them at about 2 a.m. Malaysiakini.com reported that when it contacted the Subang Jaya Police Station, a police officer who declined to be named said that there were no records that the two youths were held during the past two days at the station.

Mohanan Pillai shot dead by Malaysian Police

2002-09-06T05:08:00.001-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
Mohanan Pillai		September 6, 2002	The widow Jeyanthi A/P Sinniah (32) who was six (6) month pregnant at that time in her police report said that the deceased telephoned his wife on 6/09/2002 at about 12.00 pm informing her that he was on his. way home. At 3.00 pm received a telephone call from her husband's friend informing her that her husband had been shot dead by the police in bad faith and with mala-fide in the "shoot to kill policy by the police". The widow in her police report Kelana Jaya NO.5203-02 dated.7/09/2002 alleged that the story by the police that her husband shot at the police and the police shot back and her husband was killed as a result as "cerita rekaan polis" (police fictious story).

Anthony A/L Ponnusamy is shot dead by Malaysian Police

2002-08-24T05:11:00.000-07:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

Anthony A/L Ponnusamy

August 24, 2002

The widow Vasanthi A/P Perumal (25) who was five (5) moths pregnant at that time in her police report No.1211/02 (Mantin) said that her husband bought her breakfast and left for work on 23/08/2002. From 12.00 pm on 23/08/2002 right up to the next day morning she kept calling him persistently on the phone but to no avail. The widow alleges that the newspaper stories about her husband being involved in guns for hire, extortion, gangster isu etc was false news published and was a prelude / justification for killing her husband.

She further alleged that the police pre-planned her husband's murder and does nor believe the police's version that her husband was behaving suspiciously, waiting to hijack a lorry, shot at the police the police returned fire and her husband was killed. She furhter said that her husband would not be stupid to shoot when a group of (armed) policemen supposedly cornered him. Despite a request in the said police reports an Inquest is yet to be held and neither has the Bukit Aman CID Chief and the other policemen who shot her husband are yet to be investigated and / or charged for murder. Despite officially requesting for a detailed explanation from the Inspector General of Police within 14 days as to how her husband died nothing is forthcoming as of date.

S Vivashanu Pillai Found Drowned in Rever After Detained By Malaysian Police

2002-08-04T05:44:00.000-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
S Vivashanu Pillai	24	Aug 1st - 4^th, 2002	Vivsshanu arrested with seven others on Aug. 1, but was reported to have escaped custody the next day. Body found in the river on Aug. 4. Mother lodges police report, claiming 'there was something amiss' with his death.

M. Ragupathy died after detained by Malaysian Police

2002-07-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

M Ragubathy

July 28, 2002

M. Ragupathy was arrested together with nine other persons after fleeing from an illegal gaming outlet following a dispute with the proprietor. The group stumbled onto a police patrol car and were arrested on suspicion of committing a robbery. All 10 men were taken to the Sepang Police Station and were later remanded for 12 days, from 18 to 30 July 2002. Ragupathy had undergone a heart operation several years earlier during which a prosthetic valve was installed that requires a medical supplement known as waffarin, a type of anti-coagulant. Due to the operation, he had a visible 8-inch scar running below his neck across his chest.

According to a statutory declaration affirmed by the cousin brother of Ragupathy who was detained with the deceased, Ragupathy started complaining of chest pains and inability to sleep to the police beginning on 20 July. His condition worsened and he was not able to eat for three days; he also had bouts of vomiting. Ragupathy and his friends made repeated pleas for medical attention, and his special circumstances were conveyed to the police but to no avail. On 26 July, the police finally brought him to a government clinic, where an assistant treated him, as the doctor was absent. The assistant said that he was “treated” for asthma, as that was what the police told him about the victim. He was given some medication, but his condition further deteriorated. On 27 July, the police took him to Putrajaya Hospital. He was pronounced dead the next day. The Sepang police denied any negligence or foul play and said that the deceased could have “died anywhere,” since he had not taken his medication and did not inform the police of his condition. He added that the hospital only detected the condition when they did a chest X-ray.

S Tharma Rajen, 20, a waiter from Kuala Lumpur, died at the Putrajaya hospital after he was sent there from the lockup.

2002-06-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

S Tharma Rajen

June 21, 2002

Mr. S. Tharma Rajen, a previously healthy young man.

In June 2002, Tharma Rajen died under mysterious circumstances while in the custody of the police. He was detained consecutively for 66 days in four different police stations and was eventually detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO). According to the official post-mortem, this previously healthy young man apparently died of pneumonia, although a different post-mortem said that he died of tuberculosis. The latter, private post-mortem also observed that the body was “malnourished and emaciated.” There were allegations of Tharma Rajen being beaten up while in police custody.

There had also been repeated pleadings made by Tharma Rajen and his family members that he be taken to the hospital, but they were ignored. He was finally taken to the hospital when he became critically ill. The deceased's mother claimed that, two hours before he died, her son was handcuffed to the hospital bed despite being emaciated and unable to breathe properly.

At the inquest, a nurse also testified that he was handcuffed by both hands to the bed even though he was so weak that he needed assistance to eat and shower.

Mental patient Thevarajah Suppiah was shot by the police

2000-10-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
Thevarajah Suppiah		October 10, 2000	Keluang- Mental patient Thevarajah Suppiah was shot by the police while running away from them after releasing his 10-year-old hostage of four hours. Police could have captured Thevarajah as he was only armed with a pen knife, or could have just shot him in his leg to capture him alive and bring him before the court.

Francis Nathan died in Police Custody

1999-10-21T05:32:00.000-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
Francis Nathan		October 21, 1999	Police tell father that cause of death was HIV, but father reports bruising and lacerations on the body and face. Death certificate states meningitis as cause of death.

Six Man Fatally Shoot Dead By Malaysian Police

1998-10-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

Ramachandran Sitaraman Subramaniam. Kannapareddy Ravi Suppayah Ganesan Sinasamy Rajendran Subramaniam

October 13, 1998

The shootings occurred close to midnight on 3 October 1998 when, having received
information that drugs and guns were to be smuggled over the Thai border (no details of the
identity, race or gender of the suspects being provided), two unmarked police vehicles
ambushed a van carrying six persons. The leader of one of the police teams claimed that, just
after police cars blocked the van at the front and right side, he heard shots and ordered his
men to open fire. Within twenty seconds, 47 rounds had been fired killing all the passengers.
The victims, all ethnic-Indian Malaysians, included government civil servants, a politician
and members of the Citizens Volunteer Force.52 None had criminal records.
The pathologist carrying out an autopsy noted that all the shots had been directed at
the victim’s heads. No police officers were killed in the incident. Police reported they
recovered firearms and bullets from the glove compartment of the van. No spent cartridges
were found and no tests were conducted to ascertain if the firearms had been fired that
evening.

Eight-month pregnant Selvamalar Nadarajah shot dead by police

1998-10-02T05:34:00.002-07:00

Name

Age

Date

Circumstance of Death

Selvamalar Nadarajah

October 2, 1998

It was chilling testimony. One minute, Saraswathy Govindasamy was chatting outside her front door with her eight-month pregnant niece and neighbor, Selvamalar Nadarajah. The next, her niece and four others had been shot dead by a police SWAT team.

"I rushed out when I heard the gunshots," Saraswathy, a 44-year-old housewife told a Kuala Lumpur court in early March. She claims she tried to alert police that a pregnant woman was inside the house they had surrounded. "Do you want to die? Go back inside," a policeman shouted, according to Saraswathy. "About two hours later a police truck arrived. They brought out five bodies from the house and into the waiting truck." One of the bodies was Selvamalar's.

The dead woman's two children, Alameloo Mangai, 11, and her sister Keerthana, 8, are suing the government and police for their mother's death. Police officers responsible for the Oct. 2, 1998, raid,

R.Shanmugam 29, Found Hanged In Police Custody.

1997-10-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

Name	Age	Date	Circumstance of Death
R Shanmugam	29	August 1997	First detained under suspicion of robbery June 25, 1997. Released and rearrested twice, the final time on drug charges. Found hanged in cell August 31. Family question whether he committed suicide.