Cops identify drowned bodies

GEORGE TOWN: Police have identified the pregnant woman and the boy whose bodies were found near the Teluk Bahang beach on Wednesday evening.

Southwest district police chief Supt Anuar Omar said the woman has been identified as 21-year-old Tan Li Gin from Butterworth and the child was a two-year-old boy.

He said Tan's husband identified the bodies at the Penang Hospital.

"The post-mortem results showed the cause of death to be drowning and there is no element of foul play," he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, a food stall operator near the beach where the bodies were found said she called the police after noticing the bodies.

Siti Noor, 21, added there was no foul odour and believed the bodies were brought in by the tides.

"I did not see them at the beach before," she told reporters when met at her stall today.

Earlier at KEPALA BATAS, Penang police chief Datuk Chuah Ghee Lye said there were no signs of criminal elements on the bodies.

He said the woman was 11-weeks pregnant and police recovered a RM2 bus ticket from the bodies and would check with the bus company to trace the possible route.

"We are still investigating," he said in a press conference today after police disposed of a total of 481,000 pirated VCDs and DVDs at the North Seberang Prai district police headquarters here.

Continuing with other cases, Chuah said a third suspect, a 22-year-old Cambodian maid, has been detained to assist investigations into the death of an Indonesian maid on Feb 25,

He said the suspect was detained at about 8.30am on Wednesday in Jelutong and has been remanded for 14 days.

"She does not have a valid passport," he said, adding police suspect the deceased was abused but investigations were still ongoing.

On the case where a Jawi Prison inmate was allegedly beaten up, Chuah said the bruises on the body was from falling down.

He said medical officers found the inmate was not beaten up while the toenails, reported to be missing, were removed to ensure the skin disease would not spread.

"The Investigation papers has been referred to the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) last Friday and has been classified as no further action," he said, adding police recorded 21 statements from inmates, prison guards and medical officers during the investigations.