IT is almost two years since S. Sathiswaran, 15, died on the spot after he was hit by a chair flung from the Seri Pantai People’s Housing Project in Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur but the family are still being kept in the dark over the case.

Police have since reclassified the case as murder but the family remain clueless on who caused the death of their son.

Sathiswaran’s mother, S. Kathuribai, is still grieving over the death of her youngest child.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insight, she expressed her disappointment at how the police were handling the matter, accusing them of taking this case lightly.

She is demanding answers over the delay finding the perpetrator.

“It is almost two years and there is still no justice for my son. I don’t know what the police are up to. Till date, they have not updated me about the case.

“My son didn’t die from some sickness or disease. He was killed at this very place, right in front of my eyes. I held his brains in my hands.

“I think the police are taking this case lightly because we are poor. If this had happened to someone with power or someone influential, then the police would have probably found the culprit by now.

“Just because we are poor, they are taking us for a ride,” she said.

When asked if she would hire a lawyer to take up her case for justice, restaurant help Kasthuribai said she doesn’t know how to engage a lawyer nor do they have the means to do so.

She also said her husband, K. Sathiasilan, recently lost his job.

The 47-year-old said the family have not received any compensation over the death of the teenager.

“I’m poor. My husband recently lost his job. I don’t earn much and I have a family to look after. So, how to hire a lawyer when I don’t have money? I don’t even know how to go about to hire a lawyer. No one is even coming forward to help me willingly.

“Everyone thinks that I got a hefty payout but in truth, the only money I got was the donation on my son’s funeral day. That was used to cover the funeral expenses. After that I didn’t get any compensation.”

On January 15, 2018, Sathiswaran was on the ground floor of the PPR Seri Pantai flats with his mother when a chair, flung from the 21st floor of the low-cost flats, hit him. He died of head injuries.

Kasthuribai said she doesn’t even have money to build a proper grave and tombstone for her son. She said at times it would be difficult for her to even trace his grave.

“I don’t even have money to build a tombstone for my son. Someone said it would cost thousands to do one. All I could afford was to build bricks around his grave, which cost me RM200. Sometimes, even I would have a tough time finding his grave because there is no name on his grave.”

As the sole breadwinner for the family and also taking care of a disabled brother, Kasthuribai said there were a lot of promises which weren’t fulfilled.

One of them was the free house promised by Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil.

Earlier this year, Fahmi said that Sathiswaran’s family would be moving to a new unit in the same block, which is given to them for free under the Baiti-Jannati scheme.

However, Kasthuribai said she still pays rent for the new house. She showed a recent red notice issued by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for her failure to pay the rental.

“I was told the house was free and I would only need to pay maintenance but I’m still paying rent for this unit. Now, they issued a red notice and disconnected my water supply because I couldn’t pay the rent for a few months.

“Why tell me it is free when I have to pay for it? I feel cheated.”

Despite all the struggles, Kasthuribai still remains hopeful that the culprit would be apprehended one day. She said that she just wants to ask the person who flung the chair why.

Kasthuribai said Sathiswaran, a pupil of SMK La Salle Brickfields, would be in form five next year and would have probably gone to become a chef like he always wanted after completing his SPM.

She said her dreams were crushed by the fatal incident. – December 23, 2019.