KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Oct 2008: The father of an army personnel who died while undergoing training has sued the defence ministry and two others for more than RM1 million for negligence.
Lorry driver K Kannan, 44, filed the writ of summons at the High Court Registry in the Jalan Duta Court Complex here today through his counsel, Karpal Singh.
Kannan is seeking RM42,042 in special and general damages and RM1 million in aggravated and exemplary damages from the director of the Royal Malaysian Air
Force camp in Bukit Jugra, Selangor, the defence ministry and the government of Malaysia.
He and his wife, T Rajeshweri, were present at the court complex today.
Rajeshweri could not control her emotions and broke down in tears when she told the media she wanted to know the cause of death of her only son, Yogeswaran, 21, who was found dead on 4 Aug 2007 while undergoing basic commando training at the Bukit Jugra camp in Banting.
In his statement of claim, Kannan held the defendants responsible for Yogeswaran’s death, claiming that his son was in their care and service at that material time.
Kannan claimed that the defendants were negligent as they had failed to ensure the safety of army personnel in the camp and to ensure that his son received immediate and adequate medical attention.
He claimed that Yogeswaran’s death had caused distress and trauma to him and his family. The couple has three other children, all daughters.
Kannan claimed that the cause of Yogeswaran’s death was suspicious as there were injuries on his body.
He said there were also contradictory versions of the cause of death — that Yogeswaran was found dead in a seated position in the toilet, that he was found dead under a tree within the camp area and that his death was allegedly due to a fall while attempting to climb a fence.
The writ has yet to be served on the defendants. — Bernama
