WHILE recovering at the National Heart Institute (IJN), deceased firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim was asked twice if he was beaten by mobs during the Sri Maha Mariamman temple riot, and had denied it both times, said senior cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Mohamad Ezani Taib.

Dr Ezani, who was taking the stand in the inquest of the firefighter’s death, said he had asked Adib when he was conscious and responsive whether he remembered being beaten during the riot, but the firefighter just shook his head.

“The question was asked twice in my presence. Once, when I asked him alone and once in the presence of an investigating officer from the police,” said Dr Ezani.

Responding to questions by deputy public prosecutor Faten Hadni, Dr Ezani told coroner Rofiah Mohamad Mansor that he was in Adib’s room when the police investigating officer asked the firefighter a few questions.

“The officer, in my presence, had asked Adib if he was beaten up, but Adib, who was responsive but could not talk, just shook his head.

“On another occasion I asked him alone and he had the same response, which I perceived as ‘no’,” he said.

“So, I stopped there and did not ask further.”

However, he told the coroner’s court that a medical assistant named Ashraf claimed that the 24-year-old fireman had nodded in the affirmative when asked if he was beaten.

“On December 25, eight days after Adib’s death, a medical assistant known as Ashraf had come to see me. He told me that the fireman had nodded his head when asked him if he had been beaten up.”

Dr Ezani then advised the medical assistant to seek legal advice.

The medical assistant will be questioned by the coroner’s court in the days to come.

Dr Ezani, who is the 14^th witness in the inquest, earlier told the court that Adib’s condition was stable before it deteriorated, resulting in death on December 17.

Last week, Dr S. Anand, 46, who a cardiothoracic surgeon at a private hospital, told the court that Adib’s injuries were not consistent with usual assault cases.

He inferred that from his examinations of the X-rays that there were no signs of Adib defending himself from being beaten.

“It’s an isolated injury, evidence of self-defence wounds were not evident in this case,” he told the coroner.

Adib suffered multiple fractures on the right ribs and a collapsed lung (lung contusion) when he was brought to hospital.

Dr Anand said there were various ways, including assault, that could lead to blunt-chest trauma, such as a crush to the ribs, a fall from a height, rapid acceleration and deceleration, and assault.

He said most of Adib’s injuries were confined to the chest, and as such, are not consistent with assault.

The inquest was ordered as there were no conclusive findings in the probe into how Adib was injured during the riots at the Hindu temple in Subang Jaya on November 26 and 27 last year.

Police investigations reveal that there could be two possibilities as to what caused Adib’s death: either he was beaten by a mob or was run over by a fire truck. – February 25, 2019.