IT’S been almost a decade now but custodial death victim A. Kugan’s family is still struggling to recover from their sudden loss.

Kugan’s brother Iswara said his family was still hurt with the circumstances surrounding his brother’s death in 2009 and with the way the authorities handled the matter.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insight after the official launch of 5 Faces, a comprehensive report on five deaths in police custody by Lawyers for Liberty, Iswara said his family wished for an end of custodial deaths.

“Our demands are simple, we do not want this to happen to others. The whole family still feels his missing presence.

“The police were eating crisps as they informed our family of my brother’s death,” Iswara said on the the insensitivity of the police in handling their case.

Kugan was arrested on January 14, 2009 on suspicion of car theft. He was found dead in custody six days after his arrest at Taipan Police Station in Subang Jaya.

A police constable, Navindran Vivekanandan was jailed three years in 2012 for assaulting Kugan.

For the family of another custodial death victim, S. Balamuguran, it was once again the attitude of the police in covering up the matter which is still fresh in their minds.

The victim’s brother, Balraj, said the police took a long time before telling the truth to the family on what had happened to Balamurugan.

“We went to the police station to get him released, but they forced us to wait the whole day due to reasons such as the investigating officer was on holiday and they needed his signature to clear Balamurugan,” Balraj explained.

“We have till 12 midnight, so you wait till then” Balraj recalled being told by the police while waiting for his brother’s imminent release.

However, what they heard next shocked them. They were told that Balamurugan had died in custody with the pathologist concluding the cause of death was heart problem.

A second post-mortem report, which was insisted upon by the family, showed the cause of death was “coronary artery disease with multiple blunt force injuries”.

Two senior police officers have been charged with wrongfully detaining Balamurugan and voluntarily causing hurt to extort a confession.

What hurts the family most was the fact that the police failed to take Balamurugan to the hospital despite being ordered to do so by the Klang magistrates’ court.

Balamurugan was arrested on February 6, 2017 with two other suspects travelling in a car suspected of being used in a car theft.

The day after his arrest, Balamurugan was taken to the Klang magistrates’ court by police to seek a remand order. While there, he was unable to walk and could not stand up to greet the magistrate.

The magistrate noting his condition, rejected the remand application and ordered that Balamurugan be taken to hospital for treatment.

Instead of complying with the court order, police officers conspired on WhatsApp to falsify investigations against him with racist and derogatory terms.

At 11pm that evening, Balamurugan was found unconscious in a holding area in IPD Klang Utara. His death was confirmed an hour later.

“I want the person at fault to be held responsible and face justice,” said Balraj. – September 14, 2018.