"The death of the deceased is due to a hypertensive heart disease and this is due to police not giving or allowing medicine related to his problem," the coroner said.
Court: Cops acted unlawfully in Chandran's death
Sessions court judge Ahmad Bache, who sat as the coroner, said Chandran died in the police lock-up before 7.48am on Sept 10, 2012, but the police only noticed and reported it 12 hours later.
"The death of the deceased is due to a hypertensive heart disease and this is due to police not giving or allowing medicine related to his problem," the coroner said.
Chandran, who is from Simpang Renggam, was remanded at the Dang Wangi police station lock-up for four days before his death.
During that period, he was not allowed to take medication that his family members tried to give him.
The 47-year-old was arrested following a police report lodged by an Indonesian woman who said her baby was abducted.
The woman had agreed to give the baby to Chandran's brother-in-law, who is a Muslim, after her birth hospital fees were paid by the adopting party.
Chandran’s case marks the first time that a sessions court judge in Kuala Lumpur has acted as a coroner, a role previously limited to magistrate.
This follows a practice directive by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria that inquests by a coroner should handled by sessions court judges and not by magistrates. - Malaysiakini, 16/1/2015, Court: Cops acted unlawfully in Chandran's death
Police responsible for custody death of lorry driver, says coroner
A
coroner's court today ruled that police were responsible for the death
in custody of lorry driver P. Chandran through their omission to provide
him with timely medical assistance.Sessions judge Ahmad Bache, who sat as coroner, said in his verdict that police officers from Cheras and Dang Wangi district police headquarters had committed unlawful omission by not giving Chandran his medication and sending him to hospital.
Ahmad said the police were aware that Chandran was under medication as this had been recorded by a magistrate when a remand order was issued against him.
He said that closed-circuit television (CCTV) images showed the 47-year-old likely succumbed to hypertensive heart disease at 7.48am but police had reported his death only 12 hours later. "A policeman gave evidence that the deceased died at 7pm (on September 10, 2012) but the CCTV footage showed he was not moving at 7.48am," he said.
Police reported Chandran's death at 8pm that day.
Chandran, who was from Simpang Renggam, Johor was arrested on September 6, 2012 following a police report lodged by an Indonesian woman who said her newborn baby had been abducted and held for ransom.
Further investigations revealed that the woman had agreed to give the baby to Chandran's brother-in-law, who is a Muslim and had no children.
The baby was supposed to be adopted after the completion of documentation.
However, she changed her mind and lodged a police report. Police arrested four people, including Chandran and the would-be adoptive parents.
Chandran, a father of six, was held at the Dang Wangi police station lock-up for four days before his death and during that period, he was not allowed to take the medication that his family members tried to give him.
"The death of the deceased is due to a hypertensive heart disease and this is due to police not giving or allowing medicine related to his problem," the coroner said.
Pathologist Dr Nurul Kharmila Abdullah also gave evidence that the death could have been avoided if he was given the medication and sent to hospital on time.
Ahmad said there were injuries on the Chandran’s head and body but was uncertain how they were inflicted.
"But two witnesses went on record to state that Chandran did not have any injuries prior to his detention," he said.
Ahmad said the police must be held accountable for the death even if the injuries were inflicted by policemen or inmates.
This is the first time in recent memory that a coroner has pointed to a party responsible for a death in custody following the landmark Court of Appeal ruling last year which substituted the open verdict of a coroner with that of an unlawful act of person/s unknown against Teoh Beng Hock.
In that case, the aide to a DAP state assemblyman was found dead outside the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office, hours after being questioned.
A three-man bench also ruled that only a lower standard of proof, which is the balance of probabilities, was required in an inquest to find out the cause of death.
While Datuk Mohamad Arif Md Yusof and Datuk Mah Weng Kwai held that coroners could arrive at an open verdict, Datuk Hamid Sultan Abu Backer said the Criminal Procedure Code provided no room for such conclusions.
However, the judges were unanimous that the coroner in Teoh's case was wrong in his finding, as there was overwhelming evidence against the MACC officers.
They also ruled out suicide.
Teoh, who had been held for questioning, was found dead on the 5th floor annexe corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, which houses the MACC office, on July 16, 2009.
Meanwhile lawyer M. Visvanathan who appeared for Chandran's family told The Malaysian Insider today that the coroner's verdict was sufficient for the police to investigate the persons responsible for the crime.
"The public will be closely following what the police and public prosecutor will do from now on," he said.
Visvanathan added that he would be filing a civil suit against the government for negligence. – January 16, 2015.- Malaysian Insider, Police responsible for custody death of lorry driver, says coroner
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