Autopsy team was suspicious of Adib’s cause of death, doctor tells inquest

Alfian Z.M. Tahir Alfian Z.M. Tahir Updated 5 years ago · Published on 29 Mar 2019 6:40PM · 4 Comments

National Forensic Institute director Dr Mohd Shah Mahmood has told the inquest into fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim's death that he thought Adib was beaten to death by rioters at first but his injuries did not match any sign of physical assault. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Afif Abd Halim, March 29, 2019.

NATIONAL Forensic Institute director Dr Mohd Shah Mahmood thought firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim was beaten to death by rioters and felt the case was a straightforward incident until he examined the fireman’s body.

“When I was first called to conduct the medical examination by the cops, I thought it was a straightforward case.

“The medical team did consider that Adib was assaulted, but after our assessment, the injuries sustained by the deceased did not match any sign of psychical assault,” he said at an inquest into the cause of the firefighter’s death this afternoon.

Shah said his team grew more suspicious about the cause of death when they discovered seven broken ribs on Adib’s body.

“We were questioning how did Adib sustain the broken ribs as it was not reported to us before. We were asking questions.

“Even after the post mortem was conducted, we were not able to help the police with the cause of death,” he said.

According to Shah, the reconstruction of the incident helped the medical team to determine the cause of death.

“With the help of the reconstruction, we were able to see a clearer picture on how Adib sustained the broken ribs.”

At the inquest this morning, Shah testified that his team which performed the autopsy had not been told about the injuries to Adib’s ribs prior to his death.

Doctors had not found any broken ribs when he was admitted to hospital after his emergency medical rescue service (EMRS) unit was attacked by a mob during rioting at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple on November 27.

The autopsy team only discovered the broken ribs when they conducted the post-mortem after Adib died on December 17.

By that time, Adib had been receiving medical care at the National Heart Institute (IJN), after being transferred from the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) where he was first brought after the riot.

Shah earlier testified that he believed the broken ribs were caused by a hard impact from a solid object. – March 29, 2019.

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Comments

  • That's the quality of certain doctors. How did they miss the broken ribs in the first instance? No SOP?

    Posted 5 years ago by Concerned Citizen · Reply

  • He will be villified by a large number of Malays

    Posted 5 years ago by Watchdog Watchdog · Reply

  • Face facts and get over this unpleasant incident. There is no substitute for truth. Adib was a hero. who died in the service of the nation.

    Posted 5 years ago by Citizen Pencen · Reply

  • This is why an inquest was so important. All this evidence would not have come to light if there was no inquest. A few persons could have been framed and charged on false evidence. We have seen how false evidence was given. All those who gave false evidence claiming to have seen Adib being assaulted, including the fire-station head, ought to be charged. If not for the inquest, their false evidence could have put a few people behind bars, or even the rope around someone's neck. Why were some parties so deadly against an inquest being held? They wanted the police to charge some people. Well done our AG for having ordered an inquest.

    Posted 5 years ago by Ravinder Singh · Reply