Coroner S Court Opens Inquest Into Doctor S 2023 Death

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The Coroner’s Court agreed to begin an inquest into the 2023 death of Dr Shintumathi Mutusamy, following 28 police reports and multiple appeals to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
This was relayed to lawyer Reenajit Kaur Golen by a court interpreter at the Shah Alam Sessions Court today, following the lawyer’s queries for updates on the case.
The court interpreter informed Reenajit that the case had been registered and mentioned this morning, details that were not made known to Shintumathi’s family or their lawyers.
In response to questions on why the court had not updated the family’s legal representatives, the court officer said the court was unaware that the police had failed to notify the family regarding today’s mention.
“Whilst I am surprised that the investigating officer did not inform either the solicitors nor the family, I am grateful that the inquest proceedings have finally begun,” said Reenajit’s co-counsel, Mahajoth Singh, to Malaysiakini.
The next mention date for the inquest has been set for Oct 15, with deputy public prosecutor Nurul Akhilah Rosmi scheduled to submit the case facts and witness list.
Lawyer Mahajoth SinghMalaysiakini previously reported that police had referred their investigation paper on Shintumathi’s death to the Shah Alam Coroner’s Court on May 27, with law firm Abd Halim Ushah & Associates informed of the matter on Sept 19.
Mahajoth had then written to the court on Sept 23 to seek its confirmation on receiving the investigation paper and the latest developments in the case.
‘Suspicious, unnatural circumstances’
According to a post-mortem, Shintumathi was determined to have died due to “inhalation asphyxia by compressed gas and plastic bag”, with her body found in her room at a condominium complex in Petaling Jaya.
However, in a Sept 3 letter to Attorney-General (AG) Dusuki Mokhtar, Mahajoth noted that the medical officer who performed the autopsy had stated in a separate document that Shintumathi’s death was under suspicious and unnatural circumstances.
Based on a timeline of events detailed in the letter sighted by Malaysiakini, various attempts had been made to seek justice for Shintumathi, who co-owned a clinic with another doctor before her death.
Shintumathi’s mother had also claimed that while the scene where her daughter was found was covered in blood and an unidentified yellow liquid, investigating officers had not collected any of the substances for further analysis to determine whether other individuals were involved in the case.
She also asserted that police had failed to send two blood-stained mattresses for DNA tests and only secured CCTV footage from the day after Shintumathi’s death while supposedly ignoring recordings from earlier days. - Mkini

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