JOHOR BARU: The recent death of a university student in the Reserve Officer Training Unit (Palapes) will be investigated by the Defence Ministry, says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (pic).
The Defence Minister said the investigating committee will also include officials from the Higher Education and Home Ministries.
“I was informed that a post-mortem has already been conducted, but we are still waiting for the results.
“At the Malaysian Armed Forces level, we have established a committee to investigate the cause and circumstances of the victim’s death,” Mohamed Khaled told reporters when asked about Syamsul Haris Shamsudin’s death.
The 22-year-old Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) had died while training at the Army Combat Training Centre (Pulada) in Ulu Tiram on July 28.
Johor police had said that an autopsy found no signs of criminal injury but the student’s mother has publicly called for an inquiry after finding “mysterious bruises” on her son’s body.
In a statement on Friday, Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Yusof Othman said initial investigations revealed that the victim became disoriented while undergoing combat inoculation training.
“Upon noticing his condition, medical officers from the military clinic rushed him to Hospital Kota Tinggi for further treatment,” he said.
“He was later pronounced dead while receiving treatment at the hospital’s emergency zone.”
Supt Yusof said the victim’s body was brought to the Forensic Medicine Department at Hospital Sultan Ismail for a post-mortem examination.
“The autopsy found no signs of criminal injury, and we are still awaiting the results of laboratory tests to determine the cause of death,” he said, adding that the case was initially classified as sudden death.
“We are conducting a thorough and detailed investigation, including recording statements from witnesses and medical personnel involved, to determine the actual cause of the incident,” Supt Yusof said.
“The public is advised not to speculate while awaiting the outcome of the investigation”.
In an earlier press conference in Perak on the same day, Syamsul Haris’s mother said she has lodged a police report after collecting her son’s remains from Johor.
Ummu Haiman Bee Daulatgun told reporters that her son had bruises on his body, and blood was coming out of his nose, eyes and neck.
“The injuries didn’t appear to be the result of a seizure. The bruises looked like he had been assaulted. I was not satisfied with the explanation I received,” Ummu Haiman told a press conference at her lawyer’s office.
This was the second Palapes trainee death, after Muhammad Amir Rusyaidi, 26, of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) died during an exercise at the Shah Alam campus on Nov 13, 2024.
