GEORGE TOWN – “The only thing I ask for – I don’t want revenge on anyone, I just want justice. I hope this does not happen again to other people’s children. Let my son be the last victim of a case like this.”
These were the words of D. Shanti, 47, whose son T. Nhaveen was allegedly killed due to violent bullying in 2017.
A tense and sombre atmosphere enveloped the trial room of the Penang High Court where Shanti testified as a witness today.
Nhaveen’s case shocked the country when the 18-year-old lad was allegedly beaten by four of his schoolmates, causing the victim to fall into a coma for five days before passing away.
Shanti told the court that she knew one of the suspects known as Raga, who allegedly caused the death of her son.
She said that her son had always complained of being bullied by Raga, the fifth witness in the case, since he was 15 years old, which made Nhaveen afraid and reluctant to go to school.
“Raga and Nhaveen were classmates. At first, I thought it was just about the usual fights of the boys. But when Nhaveen started to change and dislike going to school, I decided to meet Raga and told him not to disturb Nhaveen at school,” Shanti said before judicial commissioner Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid.
The grieving mother said that Nhaveen had also once told her that Raga was mocking him, calling him a “whore” for complaining about it to his mother.
However, Nhaveen finally returned to school in better cheer when Raga was expelled from school while in Form 4, believed to be due to disciplinary problems.
Recounting the moment of the dark incident on June 10, 2017, Shanti told the court that she was shocked when one of Nhaveen’s friends, known as Pravin, came to her house at 1.20am severely wounded and bleeding.
Pravin told her that Nhaveen was “kidnapped” and beaten by Raga and his friends, and asked her to help save Nhaveen, she testified.
“It was bloodcurdling for me at the time. I thought that if Pravin’s condition is already like this, then what about my son?” she told the court in tears.
“I took action to contact Raga using Pravin’s mobile phone to find out my son’s condition.”
Raga, however, refused to send Nhaveen back to her house despite having been persuaded to negotiate amicably, said Shanti.
“A few minutes later, I received a call back by a man using Raga’s mobile phone and was informed to pick Nhaveen up at a field near Minden Heights.”
Shanti said she then asked for her brother’s help to find Nhaveen. Her brother later sent Nhaveen to Penang Hospital after seeing the severe injuries suffered by the young man.
At the hospital, Shanti was told by doctors that Nhaveen was suffering from severe bleeding in the head, in addition to injuries to his anus, so much so that the bed on which Nhaveen was receiving treatment was filled with blood.
“The doctor informed that the bleeding was because there was a severe tear in the anus. I was shocked and kept crying because I thought that they only hit him.”
At the end of her testimony in the presence of deputy public prosecutor Mohd Amril Johari, Shanti said she is still traumatised and has difficulty sleeping, even after four years have lapsed since the incident.
J. Ragesuthan (18), S. Gokulan (18), and two juveniles – one aged 17 and the other 16 – were charged with the murder of Nhaveen at the magistrates’ court on June 19, 2017.
They were accused of murdering Nhaveen near the Karpal Singh Learning Centre, Jalan Kaki Bukit, Gelugor between 11pm and midnight on June 9, 2017.
Lawyer Datuk Ranjit Singh Dhillon represented Ragesuthan and Gokulan, while Maanveer Singh Dhillon and Yagoo Subramaniam represented the other two. P. Malkit Kaur held a watching brief on behalf of Nhaveen’s family.
The trial for cross-examination by the defence against Shanti will continue tomorrow. – The Vibes, May 4, 2021
