A PATHOLOGIST told the Coroner’s Court today that it was “impossible” that a parang could have caused the injuries sustained by firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.

Continuing his testimony from last week, Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) pathologist Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi told the court today that it was impossible that a parang could have been used to fracture seven of Adib’s ribs.

“The possibility of sustaining back injuries where seven ribs were fractured following an assault with the back of a parang, in this case, is impossible.

“If the weapon was aimed at the deceased, the only possibility of fracture is the bone that received the impact,” Dr Hafizam told coroner Rofiah Mohamad.

Dr Hafizam, the 24th witness in the inquest of the firefighter’s death, said if the deceased had been beaten by the back of a parang, it would have left lacerations on his body. 

“I didn’t observe any lacerations on the rear left side of the deceased,” he told the court. 

He also said a person wielding the parang would have to use really strong force to inflict the injuries Adib received. 

“But in this case, the victim must have been in a standing position and the object (which hit Adib from the back) was also upright. For someone to strike using an object in an upright way with such force would not result in the current impact (as seen on Adib’s back).”

Dr Hafizam said it was uncertain if Adib was pulled out of his vehicle, as the firefighter’s body did not show signs of being pulled. 

“Based on my statement and post-mortem, it is inconclusive to say that he was pulled… there are no injuries on his left side to show that he was pulled by people. 

“If someone was pulled out of a vehicle by force, most of the time, there will be injury or signs of gripping on the area that was pulled. But in this case, there were no marks on the left of his body.” 

He did, however, say that if the victim was pulled by his shirt, no injury would be visible. 

Dr Hafizam continued to be questioned when the court reconvened after lunch. 

He was questioned by Adib’s family lawyer Kamarulzaman A. Wahab and Syazlin Mansor, who represents the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Fire and Rescue Department. 

They showed him a video of a police re-enactment of that night’s events.

He said based on the police reconstruction of that night, the most probable way Adib suffered his injuries is that the passenger door of the EMRS vehicle had hit him while backing out as he had described earlier. 

 Dr Hafizam said based on his post-mortem examination, there were no defensive wounds on Adib’s upper limbs, which would have indicated an attempt to protect himself from being beaten.

“Based on medical research papers, if a person is attacked or assaulted, they will sustain injuries on their upper body,” he said.

Dr Hafizam will continue his testimony on Thursday.

The inquest was called by the government amid conflicting claims on the cause of Adib’s death.

Adib died on December 17 at the National Heart Institute due to multiple organ failure from the injuries sustained at the riots. – March 26, 2019.