Detained Hindraf leader allowed to visit daughter in hospital
By Debra Chong (The Malaysian Insider)
Kota Alam Shah state lawmaker M. Manoharan who is serving a two year detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) was allowed out to visit his only daughter in hospital today.
Manoharan arrived at the pediatric section in the University Hospital (UH) close to 3pm and was immediately escorted into the children's ward.
The doors were closed and locked instantly, barring the media from following inside.
Manoharan was not handcuffed.
He looked visibly thinner after over a year spent behind the high security walls of the ISA Detention Centre in Kamunting, Perak.
Despite that, he was neatly dressed in a white shirt, with its sleeves rolled up over dark trousers and shoes. He also sported a trim beard.
He did not address the reporters, and only directed a very brief question about the stability of the Selangor state government to DAP Seri Kembangan assemblyman, Ean Yong Hian Wah.
Reporters were later told Manoharan would be allowed to spend an hour with his daughter.
The daughter, 11-year-old Shivaranjini, was admitted early yesterday morning, about 1am, after complaining of having trouble breathing, her mother S. Pushpaneela, 47, told reporters outside her ward here earlier this afternoon.
Pusphaneela added that the doctors told her Shivaranjini's blood pressure was very high, "equivalent to an adult's".
"Her blood pressure is 135," Pushpaneela said, but did not explain what it meant.
Although Pushpaneela said her daughter's condition is stable for now, she continues to worry for Shivaranjini's health.
"There's something not right with her. The doctor will tell me after the blood test," Pushpaneela told reporters in a calm voice, but the wrinkles never left her brow.
She related how Shivaranjini shares the tightest bond with her father, among the three children (there are two boys) and seemed to be hardest hit following Manoharan's detention under the ISA in late 2007 for leading a mass street rally in Kuala Lumpur demanding rights for the ethnic Indian community in Malaysia.
The daughter was most upset after learning an appeal for her father's release was dismissed by the Federal Court last Wednesday.
She suffered breathing difficulties after.
The family last saw Manoharan at the weekly scheduled meeting in Kamunting last Sunday.
