Kugan’s family says no to ministry probe

(The Star) PETALING JAYA: The family of A. Kugan, who died in police custody, has no confidence in the independent inquiry to be initiated by the Health Ministry, said the family’s lawyer N. Surendran.

Instead, the family wants the Malaysia Medical Council (MMC) to conduct a probe, he said, adding that the Health Ministry is biased in the matter.

Surendran spoke to reporters at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters yesterday fternoon. He was there to accompany Kugan’s mother, N. Indra, to give her statement.

Indra lodged a report last week against Serdang Hospital and Prof Dr Abdul Karim Tajuddin, who conducted the first post-mortem on Kugan’s body.

Police Watch And Human Rights Committee member S. Jayathas, who was also present, said they intended to meet the MMC by the end of the week.

The second post-mortem, done at the request of Kugan’s family, was conducted by pathologist Dr Prashant N. Samberkar from the University Malaya Medical Centre.

Dr Prashant’s report stated that Kugan died from being repeatedly beaten.

The first post-mortem attributed the cause of death to fluid in the lungs.

Health Ministry Director-General Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican had recently said in a press statement that the Serdang Hospital forensic pathologist had performed his duty ethically and professionally, and that there was no indication that he was hiding facts.