POLICE have reclassified the case of security guard Thava Sagayam, who died on Friday at home in Ipoh, Perak, as murder.

Perak police chief Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said today that the police had sent the investigation papers back to the deputy public prosecutor, seeking heavier charges against the accused.

Noor Azhar Muhammad, who is reported to be a member of Bersatu’s Kota Baru Youth division member, was earlier charged under section 335 of the penal code for voluntarily causing grievous hurt.

He is currently out on bail pending another court appearance in the magistrate’s court in Ipoh on September 9.

“Police have reclassified the case as murder under section 302 of the penal code on the day the victim died (August 27).” Mior said in a statement.

“The offence carries the death penalty. The case is awaiting further instruction from the DPP.”

Noor Azhar was assaulting the 64-year-old Thava with a table at a condominium in Ipoh on Dec 29.

It was reported that Thava was assaulted after he refused to allow Noor Azhar’s son to use the swimming pool which was closed.

Thava was hospitalised after the attack and underwent eight surgeries on his head.

A post-mortem showed he died from a lung infection, but his family maintained that his health deteriorated over the months as a result of the attack.

His family had uploaded a video of Thava being severely beaten.

Thava’s nephew, Nelson Raj Nathan, told The Malaysian Insight yesterday the family was seeking justice for his uncle’s death and compensation for his widow.

Nelson described his uncle as a dedicated, loving and compassionate man who was contented with life.

Thava married Philomena Edward, now 59, in 2003. They had no children and had looked after Nelson and his three sisters.

Nelson said Thava had run his his own business of selling ice-cream and bread for about 20 years before he became a security guard in 2015. 

Although it was a 12-hour job, Nelson said his uncle was hard-working and the family breadwinner after his wife had lost her job at a factory due to the epidemic. – August 31, 2021.