Sabah suicide victim tests positive

Policemen carrying out the body of a suicide victim in Pulau Gaya on April 6. The man was found to be positive for Covid-19 virus.

KOTA KINABALU: The 12 policemen who unwittingly handled a suicide victim’s body have been put on home quarantine after it was discovered that the dead man was infected with Covid-19.

Kota Kinabalu City police chief Asst Comm Habibi Majinji said Monday (April 13) that the policemen handled the 26-year-old man’s body which was found in a jungle area at Pulau Gaya on April 6.

He said that on Sunday (April 12), police were told that the dead man had tested positive for Covid-19 after the body was screened for the virus by health authorities during a routine post-mortem to determine the cause of death.

ACP Habibi said that the police have yet to identify the victim who did not have any personal documentation or identification papers.

He added that hospital authorities have since buried the body as no family or relatives had come forwards to claim it.

ACP Habibi said the man was believed to have committed suicide for personal reasons and was unlikely to have known that he had contracted the virus.

He explained that six policemen were directly involved in handling the body at the crime scene.

The remaining six who had indirect contact with the body were the police vehicle driver, photographers and other support staff that were involved in transporting the body by boat to the city’s mainland and to theQueen Elizabeth Hospital here for the post-mortem.

He said that the first test on the policeman showed they were negative for Covid-19 and they expect the results of the second test (72 hours after the first) to be known in a day’s time.

He said if any of them were found positive, the police would shut down the Pulau Gaya police station.

The island has a floating population of about 5,000 to 6,000 people, mainly naturalised Malaysians, Filipino refugees and stateless and illegal immigrants.

Islanders on Pulau Gaya - which is about a ten-minute boat ride from the city here - have not been allowed to travel freely to the mainland here since March 25 after two positive cases of Covid-19 were detected.

Official figures as of March 31 put the number of positive cases on the island at three.

ACP Habibi said the restriction of movement of people out of the island would continue, except for boats allowed to ferry people at scheduled hours from the three villages in the area.

He said anyone leaving the island had to undergo body sanitisation and observe set protocols on their movements on the mainland.

Those suffering from problems or contemplating suicide can contact the Befrienders service nearest them. For a full list of numbers and operating hours, go to befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia.