Widow Fails In Suit Over Husband S Death In Custody

---

 
S Thanabalan was pronounced dead two weeks after he had been arrested over alleged involvement in a secret society. (File pic)SHAH ALAM: The High Court has dismissed a suit against the police and the government for negligence over the death of a businessman detained in a police lockup here four years ago.
Judge Choo Kah Sing ruled that businessman S Thanabalan’s widow and father-in-law had failed to prove their case.
A notice of appeal against the judgement has been filed, said defence lawyers M Visvanathan and V Sanjay Nathan.
Thanabalan’s widow, V Santhi, 42, filed the action last year on behalf of herself, their two children and her husband’s estate. Her father, P Vathian, 73, is the co-administrator of the estate.

They sought damages, a dependency claim, and bereavement and funeral expenses.
Thanabalan was pronouced dead at Shah Alam hospital on April 17, 2019, two weeks after he had been arrested and held in remand for alleged involvement in a secret society.
In their statement of claim, Santhi and Vathian said Thanabalan had been entrusted to the care and control of policemen Nadzir Afiq Abduk Malik, Ho Teck Hin, Clement Antas anak Entre, and Nizam Hamzah, who were on duty at the time.
They said the men were supposed to observe and ensure through the closed-circuit television cameras that Thanabalan was safe and remained healthy.
They claimed that other policemen named in the suit had also failed to supervise their subordinates to ensure that they carried out their duties in accordance with the laws and regulations.
The other policemen were Mazhar Mohamad, K Sugendran, Roslan Ahmad, Hashim Kasman, Efandi Main, Baharudin Mat Taib and Mazlan Mansor, then the Selangor police chief.
Thanabalan’s death led to questions by civil society groups on the police’s commitment to putting an end to custodial deaths.
The family said Mazlan had breached his statutory duty by issuing a media statement denying that Thanabalan had succumbed to his death due to the oversight of his officers.
In December 2020, a coroner held that Thanabalan had possibly died at the police station or on the way to hospital “because he was brought in dead”.
The cause was held to be possibly myocardial bridging, a heart condition which normally would not kill anyone by itself. Thanabalan was found to have suffered from leptospirosis as a result of being exposed to rat urine and his heart condition had deteriorated.
Senior federal counsel Syahriah Shapiee and Asgraf Abdul Hamif appeared for the 11 policemen and the inspector-general of police then, Fuzi Harun.
The government was included as a defendant as it will be held vicariously liable if the policemen were found responsible for any negligence or omission. - FMT

---