High Court allows second post-mortem on detainee who died in police custody

SHAH ALAM: The High Court here today allowed an application for a second post-mortem to be conducted on S. Balamurugan, 44, who died in police custody on Feb 8.
Judge Azman Husin allowed the application for the second post-mortem based on an application filed by Balamurugan's family.
There was no objection from deputy public prosecutor Fakhizaa Abu Bakar and the post-mortem would likely be done at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital tomorrow.
Balamurugan died at the North Klang Police headquarters on Feb 7 where he was held for three days.
It was reported that his family members who identified his body at the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah the next day had found his face badly swollen and bleeding.
He was detained on Feb 6 and taken to court to obtain a remand order the next day.
It was also reported that the victim was bleeding from the mouth and had vomited blood when he was taken to court for the remand.
On Feb 11, North Klang police chief ACP Mohd Yusoff Mamat said more than 10 policemen at the North Klang district police headquarters were under investigation following Balamurugan's death.
However, he said none of the policemen had been suspended as the investigations were ongoing.
He said claims that there were bruises and injuries on Balamurugan's body should not arise until the autopsy report was released.
On Tuesday, the family submitted a memorandum to Bukit Aman asking for the case to be reclassified as murder and not wrongful confinement.
They also wanted an independent body to investigate the case and for all officers involved to be suspended.
The first post-mortem report on Balamurugan reportedly stated that he had died of a heart attack.