S. KASTHURIBAI, the mother of a teenager killed by a chair flung from an upper floor of a flat three years ago, will take Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to court, claiming it was through their negligence that led to the incident.

“After three years, this is the first step we’ve taken in this case and I hope my late son S. Sathiswaran gets justice,” the 49-year-old restaurant helper told The Malaysian Insight.

Arun Doraisamy, who formed the Sathiswaran Action Team in seeking justice for Kasthuribai, will lead the team together with lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal from Messrs Raj & Sach in filing the case at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

Arun said they are instituting legal proceedings against DBKL not for just monetary compensation but also to prove there was clear negligence from the local authorities where they failed to ensure cleanliness and safety at the people’s housing project.

He said such a legal action against DBKL would ensure negligence of this nature does not recur and that safety measures and maintenance are improved in future.

“Let this be the first of many cases where people come forward to sue the local councils for neglecting safety in the low-cost housings.

“People must understand that Kasthuribai is not suing DBKL just for compensation. We don’t want another Sathiswaran-like or other life-threatening incidents happening to residents of this housing project.

“Just like all others, they deserve to be safe at their living place.

“We hope this legal action will change the overall setting of such housing into a more conducive and safe place for people to live in,” he said.

On January 15, 2018, Sathiswaran, a pupil at SMK La Salle Brickfields in Kuala Lumpur, was on the ground floor of the PPR Seri Pantai flats with Kasthuribai when a chair, flung from the 21st floor of the low-cost flats, hit him.

Sathiswaran, then 15, was killed instantly due to head injuries.

Police have since reclassified the case as murder but the family is still clueless as to who caused his death.

Last year, Kasthuribai demanded RM1 million in compensation from DBKL for her loss.

In her letter of demand sent to City Hall by Messrs Raj & Sach on October 26, she claimed the local authority had failed in its responsibility to ensure cleanliness and safety in the public area of the Seri Pantai flats in Pantai Dalam, which eventually caused the death of her son.

“We have been instructed by our client to demand a claim of RM1 million for the death of her son, which was due to DBKL’s negligence.

“Based on existing evidence and documents, we found that the chair was in the corridor on the 21st floor, Block 102 for about a month before it was thrown on January 15, 2018,” the letter read.

Arun added that although safety nets were installed to reduce risks of accidents from items thrown from the upper floors, he said this was not done for the all low-cost public housing across the city.

He said this was only done in certain apartments to control the situation then and appease the locals.

“All the safety netting talk was just to sugarcoat the situation. Actually, not all projects have the safety nettings,” he said.

Recently, Kasthuribai revealed she felt betrayed by politicians who she said took advantage of her grief and did not fulfilling their promises.

Among the key pledges, she said she was told she would receive justice for her son’s death and a free home in the same flats she currently resides. However, none of these was fulfilled. – April 30, 2021.