PUTRAJAYA: A widow whose husband died in a police lock-up seven years ago has urged the authorities to investigate his death afresh and punish those responsible.
M Vimala Devy said identifying the perpetrators should not pose a problem for the authorities as M Segar was under the custody and control of the police at the time of his death.
“Someone who had access to my late husband was responsible for his death. Those responsible should be brought to justice. These deaths must stop,” she told FMT after proceedings in the Court of Appeal concluded on Monday.
Earlier, a three-member bench, led by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, struck out an appeal brought by the prosecution over the outcome of an inquest conducted into Segar’s death.
This came after deputy public prosecutor Aznee Salmie Ahmad informed the court, which included Justices Azmi Ariffin and Azman Abdullah, that the prosecution did not wish to pursue the appeal.
The prosecution had sought to set aside the Seremban High Court’s classification of Segar’s death as an “open verdict”, and to restore a coroner’s “misadventure” finding.
The High Court’s ruling stands following the prosecution’s withdrawal of its appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In May, a different appeals court panel chaired by Justice Lee Swee Seng dismissed the government’s appeal against an award of almost RM900,000 in damages made in favour of Vimala and her son Thusataran in a negligence suit.
The Seremban High Court had awarded RM450,000 in general damages, RM200,000 in aggravated damages, RM150,000 for misfeasance in public office, RM63,000 for loss of support, RM30,000 for bereavement and RM3,780 for funeral expenses.
In its decision, the appeals court affirmed a finding by judicial commissioner Wan Fadhilah Wan Idris that the defendants were negligent for failing to ensure Segar’s safety while he was in their custody.
Lee, who sat with Justices Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Azizul Azmi Adnan, said evidence given by a forensic pathologist as to Segar’s injuries were irresistibly in favour of Segar’s wife and son.
At trial in the High Court, the forensic pathologist had testified that the deceased suffered multiple blunt force trauma wounds. The witness also said the age of the wounds coincided with the time he was arrested and detained in the lock-up.
In its decision, the appeals court rebuked the police for refusing to provide CCTV footage of what happened to Segar at a lock-up and interrogation room in Port Dickson.
Vimala and Thusataran’s suit had named recording officer Rozek Azmi, the Port Dickson district police chief, the Port Dickson police station chief, the Negeri Sembilan police chief, the Inspector-General of Police and the government as defendants.
According to the statement of claim, Segar, a food stall assistant, and his friend, S Mogan, were detained by the police at about 10.30pm on April 17, 2017, allegedly for being involved in drug abuse.
The following morning, police took Segar to the Port Dickson district station after a magistrate issued a three-day remand order.
The statement of claim further claimed that at about 2.30pm on the same day, Rozek told investigating officer Nor Asyiqin Wahirudin that he wanted to take Segar out of his cell to record his statement.
Rozek spent two hours with Segar, and sent him back to his cell at around 4.45pm.
At 1.20am the following morning, Segar was found shivering in his cell. He was given painkillers by a policeman on duty.
A medical officer was called in at around 2am after his condition worsened but Segar died 10 minutes before his arrival, the document said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Haresh Mahadevan has urged the government to expedite payment of the damages awarded as the Court of Appeal’s decision in the civil suit is final and no longer appealable.
“The widow is unemployed and has two children to support. The government did not file an appeal to the Federal Court within the 30-day period,” said Haresh, who was assisted by Ramzani Idris.
This article is sourced from : Free Malaysia Today