Police stops Kugan petition

An attempt to submit a petition calling for a speedy probe into the death of detainee A Kugan to Istana Negara today was unsuccessful as the police refused to allow more than three persons to meet palace officials.

Kugan Ananthan was a Royal Malaysian Police detainee who died in the police lock-up while under arrest for suspicion of car robbery.

Kugan’s family alleged he had been tortured to death while in police custody. His case was later classified as murder by the Attorney-General, and 11 officers at the station where he died were transferred to desk duty.

The Inspector-General of Police has promised a full investigation into Kugan’s death.

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An initial autopsy declared the cause of death to be acute pulmonary edema (fluid accumulation in the lungs), but Kugan’s family alleged scratches and other bruises on the corpse were proof he had been tortured.

A second autopsy was later held. This second autopsy found the cause of death to be rhabdomyolysis—skeletal muscle damage resulting in acute kidney failure.

Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Ismail Merican later released a report on the differences between the two autopsies.

The report, based on the findings of a 10-person committee, suggested that although Kugan had been beaten, probably with a flexible blunt object such as a hose, the trauma was insufficient to cause death.

The report also dismissed other discrepancies in the two autopsy reports, attributing them to miscommunication and misinterpretation on the part of the pathologist who performed the second autopsy.