BATU GAJAH: A man's death while in custody has his family claiming foul play.
35-year-old Sisiliya Joseph, who is the stepsister of deceased M. Vijian, 30, said there were signs that he was beaten prior to his death on Feb 15 at 9.10am.
"On Jan 24, we got a call from the prison that my brother was in severe condition (sakit tenat). They asked us to quickly come to Taiping Hospital.
"When we arrived, we saw that our brother was unconscious and they were putting tubes into him," she claimed at a press conference held at her home at Desa Changkat here, on Saturday (Feb 22).
She said that when the family asked the wardens what happened, they were told two different stories.
"One warden said he was active but had breathing difficulties and that is why he was brought to the hospital.
"We were told that if we had come earlier, at 2pm, we would have been able to speak to him, but he was already unconscious when we arrived at 2.30pm.
"However, another warden told us that after Vijian had his breakfast, he vomited before fainting and was then taken to the hospital," she claimed.
Sisiliya said that the doctor told the family that Vijian had tuberculosis (TB).
"My brother never had TB... he was so active and healthy, there is no any issue with him. How come suddenly (he has issues)," she said.
She claimed that a few days later, the doctor informed them that her brother tested negative for TB, but his lungs had been infected with a virus, which severely damaged his kidneys to the point that he could no longer urinate.
"The doctor said they needed to perform temporary dialysis. However, we were not informed that my brother’s ribs had been fractured while he was in the emergency ward until the day he died," she claimed.
"On Feb 13, we got to know that his condition had deteriorated and on Feb 15, we received a call from the hospital informing us that my brother had passed away.
"On the same day, the family requested for the post-mortem to be conducted at another hospital, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh," she added.
However, on Jan 16, she claimed that a forensic pathologist from the hospital informed the family that upon closer examination, there was only a minor infection in the kidneys.
"We were also informed that my brother had two fractured ribs and the fractures were more than three to four weeks old, caused by being beaten.
"We want to know the answers to his death. He was very active... What happened to our brother... We want to know why he died," she said adding that pending the post-mortem results, the cause of death had been classified as pneumonia.
She added that her brother was arrested on Jan 7 due to a drug-related offence and was brought to the court on Jan 13.
She added that Vijian, who was under remand, was transferred from Batu Gajah Rehabilitation Centre to Taiping Prison on Jan 16, and that the family later found out that on Jan 17, there had been a "mishap" in Taiping Prison.
She claimed that an X-ray was also taken but the family was not informed that the victim had sustained broken ribs earlier.
Urimai interim deputy chairman David Marshel added that a memorandum on the matter would be handed over to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the Opposition in Parliament on Feb 27.
Marshel also urged the government to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate all prisons in the country.
"We hope that Vijian's death will be the last inmate death," he claimed.
Perak police, when contacted on Saturday confirmed that investigations have been launched into the deaths of Vijian and Gan Chin Eng, another inmate who died in custody recently.Perak police chief Comm Datuk Noor Hisam Nordin confirmed that police had received reports the death of Gan, 61, from the Taiping Prison authorities.He added that a police report was also received concerning the death of M. Vijian, 30, with investigations being conducted."The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. "The investigation paper has been referred to the state prosecuting officer for further directives," he said when contacted on Saturday.
