IPOH: Naval cadet officer J. Soosaimanicckam was assisted by a fellow cadet when showering, a Coroner’s Court here heard.
In a testimony on Tuesday (Sept 27) before Sessions Court judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad, M. Satis said that he was already having a shower in the toilet of the KD Sultan Idris 1 (KDSI 1) camp in Lumut when Soosaimanicckam came in gasping.
Satis – who was a fellow cadet at the time – said that he went to help and found that the deceased had defecated in his pants.
“While helping him to shower, I asked him 'are you okay bro' to which he replied 'I am okay'. His breathing then got back to normal while I was showering him, but after that a few others assisted him out of the toilet as he was having difficulties walking,” he said.
ALSO READ: Naval cadet was disoriented before he died
Ainul Shahrin, who is acting as the coroner, asked Satis if he had asked Soosaimanicckam why he could not shower himself, to which Satis said he did not ask the reason.
The Coroner’s Court is probing the cause of the cadet’s death during his training at the naval base on May 19, 2018.
Soosaimanicckam was pronounced dead at the Lumut Armed Forces Hospital.
He had reported for duty on May 12, a week before his death.
Mahajoth Singh and Zaid Abd Malek of Lawyers for Liberty are representing Soosaimanicckam’s family, while Evangelin Simon Silvaraj is acting for the Malaysian Government.
Lawyer Cheang Lek Choy is holding a watching brief for the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia.
In proceedings on Tuesday, Mahajoth had asked Rakhvinder Singh – another cadet at the time - if he found it odd that the deceased had difficulty in adapting to the physical activities, easily got tired and was gasping at most times.
ALSO READ: Cadet death inquest: Trainer on duty wasn't aware deceased was sick
He had responded to further questions saying that he had found it odd that Soosaimanicckam did not pull out of training if he was having such difficulties.
“The few times I saw him during training, he was gasping at most times, and could not complete his training like the most of us,” said Rakhvinder.
“Before going to the toilet to shower, he had his body mass index recorded like the rest of us but the reading for his was not accurate as he was gasping,” he said.
Meanwhile, Soosaimanicckam’s roommate at the time said he only knew him for a week before he passed away.
Mazlan Zainal said that he noticed Soosaimanicckam was tired most of the time during his training.
“He was a friendly person, and on one of the days he told me that he wanted to request for sick leave. I told him he should speak to the physical trainer, but I am not sure if he did, or if he got any leave,” said Mazlan.
“Besides being tired, I did not see any symptoms of him being sick, as he talked and walked normally,” he added.
