KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) must initiate a public inquiry into the death of security guard S. Sivabalan an hour into his police custody, said Charles Santiago.
“So, here’s the thing. We have had another death in custody at the Gombak district police headquarters.
“For those who may have forgotten, this is the same place where A. Ganapathy died. Yes, the same police station that is currently embroiled in controversy over his death,” said the Klang MP in a statement today.
The death of the 43-year-old Sivabalan has discrepancies that leads one to think of different possibilities, he said.
“While the police report says Sivabalan died at 12.25pm, police called his sister at 3pm to inform her that he was critically ill at Selayang Hospital.
I am not interested in waiting for police to conduct their investigation. It is ridiculous because it is police investigating themselves.”
Should the public inquiry by Suhakam and EAIC materialise, he said, all the police officers who handled Sivabalan’s arrest must be suspended, pending the outcome of the investigation.
“We have had one too many deaths in police custody, and disproportionately involving ethnic Indians. I would, therefore, really like to hear from Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as well.
I need to hear him say this is appalling and cannot happen anymore. And then, I need him to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission. Anything other than these actions is a farce.”
The lawmaker’s comments come after Sivabalan died less than an hour after being taken to the Gombak station yesterday afternoon.
Sivabalan’s sister said she was informed by police that her brother was in critical condition at Selayang Hospital about 3pm.
She said an officer then informed her mother that Sivabalan died due to breathing difficulties and asked her to make her way to the hospital’s Forensic Department.
Sivabalan’s mother said her son was called to the police station over an investigation into a 2016 extortion case.
Gombak district police chief Arifai Tarawe yesterday said the probe into Sivabalan’s death is ongoing, with the case classified as sudden death, pending the outcome of a post-mortem at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
“The suspect was reportedly wanted, in relation to a criminal intimidation case, at the Gombak police headquarters for documentation purposes.
“After the suspect arrived at 11.40am, while at the Gombak station’s office, he suffered breathing difficulties. Police then contacted Selayang Hospital for emergency aid.
“An ambulance team arrived at the scene and administered emergency resuscitation. Selayang Hospital’s assistant medical officer then confirmed that the suspect died at 12.30pm.”
Initial investigations revealed that Sivabalan had a history of heart disease.
Arifai added that the man had two criminal records, one for drugs and the other over a criminal offence, in which he was classified as wanted.
Sivabalan’s death comes less than a month after the same police station made the news over cow milk trader Ganapathy’s death.
He died in hospital on April 18, more than a month after being taken there from the station on March 8. – The Vibes, May 21, 2021
