THE attorney-general has the power to call for an inquest to determine the cause of death of A. Ganapathy, who died in police custody, said Gobind Singh Deo.

In a Facebook post, the Puchong member of parliament said Attorney-General Idrus Harun could use section 339(1) of the penal code, which empowers the public prosecutor, in cases of such deaths, to call for an independent inquiry.

“The law is, therefore, designed to meet and address cases like this. There is no reason not to make full use of these provisions and to do so now in order to ensure justice is done for Ganapathy,” Gobind said in a Facebook post today.

Ganapathy died while having treatment at Selayang Hospital after he was sent there from police custody.

He was arrested on February 24 to assist in investigations into his sibling’s alleged crimes. He was said to have spent 12 days in police custody, from February 24 to March 8, before being admitted to the hospital.

He succumbed to his injuries on April 18 after spending over a month at the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Gobind said Idrus, who is also the public prosecutor, could rely on section 339 of the penal code to call for an independent inquiry to ascertain the circumstances that led to Ganapathy’s death while in custody.

“This section empowers the public prosecutor in cases of death, such as Ganapathy’s, to direct an inquiry with a view to take action if there is a need,” he said.

“I call upon the attorney-general to exercise his powers under this section and to direct that an inquest be held in order to determine what caused the death of Ganapathy and who is responsible for it.”

Gobind also called on Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin to speak up on the matter.

“I urge him to openly express his commitment to finding justice for Ganapathy. He must do so as he is the minister responsible for the police, and Ganapathy was in police custody immediately prior to his admission to hospital before his death” he said.

The lawyer for Ganapathy’s family, Ganesh Kanagaretnam, told The Malaysian Insight yesterday that the pathologist has confirmed that he died as a result of injuries on his legs and shoulders while in police custody.

He said a post-mortem has confirmed that Ganapathy died of injuries believed to have been caused by beatings.

He said this was disclosed by a doctor from the pathology department of Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

“Present at the briefing were the investigating officer, Ganapathy’s sister and myself,” said Ganesh.

“Now that it is confirmed by the autopsy report that his death was due to the beatings, we will get to the bottom of this.”

However, Gombak district police chief ACP Arifai Tarawe has said there was no evidence to show Ganapathy was beaten by police while in custody. – May 1, 2021.