Selangor Police Chief Denies Hiding Death In Prison From Coroner

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Selangor police chief Noor Azam Jamaludin had rebuffed a claim that police kept the coroner in the dark over the death of V Mugilarasu in Sungai Buloh prison
Noor Azam told Malaysiakini that the Health Ministry had set a protocol for any deaths to be sent to the hospital for a Covid-19 test first before a post-mortem could be carried out
"Before the post-mortem is carried out, nobody is allowed to visit the deceased, that is the SOP from the health ministry," he added
He was responding to human rights NGO Edict, which claimed police had not informed the coroner of Mugilarasu's death. Noor Azam said this was categorically untrue
The 35-year-old man was under remand and awaiting a court hearing in August. He died in the Sungai Buloh prison last night (July 2)
Earlier, Malay Mail reported that the family had filed a police report over the death today and they planned to seek an inquest into the death
The family's lawyer A Sheelan, meanwhile, told Malaysiakini that the post-mortem report would be submitted to them tomorrow
He and Mugilarasu's brother V Karunakaran Pillai had gone to see the body this evening
"There were bruises on the face. But the (pathologist) said they had to operate, because of the dark skin, they have to peel the skin to see if there's any bruising
"On the surface, you can see the nose was still bloody... there was dried blood on the teeth, and there was bruising on the left cheek and brow, as well as the forehead," he said
He added that the post-mortem was necessary to determine if there was any foul play involved
He said the medical forensics team had also visited Mugilarasu's cell as well as the place where he was said to have "fallen" to carry out their investigations
He said they were assured that a fair probe would be carried out. - Mkini

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