Sujatha Inquest: Ties with Vell Paari ‘no link’ to her death
(NST) KUALA LUMPUR: Local actress K. Sujatha committed suicide for reasons best known to her although it would be "far-fetched" to believe that she mistook paraquat for cough mixture, the coroner's court heard yesterday.
Counsel Datuk K. Kumaraendran, who is holding a watching brief for Sujatha's family, said it had been his stand from the start that no one else had been involved in her death.
"It is important for the court to refer to the undisputed facts and evidence adduced during the inquest.
"From the very beginning, it has been our stand that Sujatha had committed suicide and there was no third person involved," he said.
He said although it had been said that Sujatha's employer S. Vell Paari allegedly had a close relationship with her, this had nothing to do with her death.
"In fact, it should be in his favour to prove that he was not involved in her death," he said.
He said Sujatha's father, Krishnan Kunchan Nair, 53, and brothers — Surenthiran, 26, and Ugenthiran, 28, had made it clear that there was no foul play in her death.
"There is no evidence before the court to say that interested parties, like her family members, Vell Paari or Dr S.P. Sakthiveloo, should be disbelieved."
To a question by magistrate Mohd Faizi Che Abu Faizi on contradicting statements by several witnesses, Kumaraendran said the court should look at the circumstantial evidence surrounding the case.
"If the court is satisfied that all the evidence points to suicide, then that should be the conclusion the court has to arrive at. Furthermore, in most suicide cases, we can hardly get direct evidence," he added.
Kumaraendran said Sujatha had taken paraquat for reasons best known to her.
He said if there had been foul play involved, Sujatha would have informed someone about it in the run-up to the incident.
"Based on the circumstantial evidence, there is only one conclusion that the court can come to — Sujatha committed suicide for reasons known only to her," he submitted.
Deputy public prosecutor Geethan Ram Vincent submitted that although 24 witnesses had taken the stand, there was still no explanation as to why Sujatha had consumed paraquat.
He also highlighted other issues such as the fact that Sujatha was taken to the hospital in Klang when she should have been taken to Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
He said it was also unbelievable that Sujatha had never mentioned the reason for her alleged suicide and that it was highly improbable to say that Sujatha had unknowingly consumed paraquat which has a pungent smell.
Geethan added that there were also weaknesses in the systems, procedures and practices at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang.
Sujatha, 28, a singer, had also acted in several Tamil dramas, movies and commercials.
The coroner's court has fixed Sept 29 to decide if there was foul play in the death.
