KUALA LUMPUR, 18 Aug 2009: The High Court today allowed an application for a second post mortem by the elder sister of a man who died in police custody on 16 July.
Justice Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah allowed the request by R Ganga Gowri, 32, for the post mortem to be conducted on R Gunasegaran, 31, at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).
Mohamad Zabidin also ordered a copy of the report on the first post mortem conducted at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) to be handed over to the applicant’s counsel within two weeks from today.
However, he ruled that the coroner who viewed Gunasegaran’s body before the post mortem had followed the correct procedure stipulated under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), and therefore, the court disallowed Ganga Gowri’s application for a judicial review of the coroner’s action.
He also disallowed the application for all the cautioned statements recorded by the police under Section 112 of the CPC, but allowed all other relevant documents to the applicant.
The court also ordered an inquest to be held as soon as possible to determine Gunasegaran’s cause of death.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Anselm Charles Fernandis told the court that the prosecution did not object to the main application for a second post mortem since it was allowed under the law.
Gunasegaran died in police custody two hours after being detained at the Sentul police district headquarters for alleged drug abuse.
His body remains unclaimed at the HKL mortuary.
Ganga Gowri’s counsel M Visvanathan told Bernama that the post mortem would be conducted on Thursday by pathologist Dr Prashant Naresh Samberkar at UMMC. — Bernama
