Three cops charged with custodial death of Indian man in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur: Three policemen in Malaysia were today charged with causing the death of a 32-year-old ethnic Indian man in lock-up.

The accused - Jaffri Jaafar, 44, Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 45, and Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 32 - confirmed in a Magistrate's court here that they understood the charges, although no plea was recorded.

The three policemen, along with another who is still at large, are accused of colluding to cause the death of N Dharmendran on May 21.

If convicted, the three could face the gallows under the country's Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. Dhamendran's wife Marry Mariya Susay, 26, told reporters she was satisfied that the suspects had been charged.

"Why did they try to cover this up, saying he suffocated, saying he had a heart attack?" she said.

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Dhamendran died while he was detained at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters. He had complained of chest pain and was sent to a city hospital but breathed his last on arrival on May 21.

He had been arrested on May 11 on suspicion of attempted murder involving firearms and held under remand from May 12, until his death.

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Based on the post mortem examination conducted at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital on May 22, the cause of death was determined to be "diffused soft tissue injuries due to multiple blunt force trauma".

His wife had accused the police of delaying investigations and harassing her family after the post mortem report stated the cause of Dhamendran's death.

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The incident sparked public outrage, with some ethnic Indian-based non-governmental organisations and Malaysia's largest ethnic Indian-based political party the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) threatening to hold protests and street rally against the deaths in custody.

Malaysia's Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had issued a statement, saying the ministry is not taking the issue likely.

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"I assure the public, be it those who are with the government or otherwise, that as long as we are entrusted (with the task), we will not compromise on the issue of deaths in custody," he had said.

Malaysia's 29 million people comprise eight per cent ethnic Indians.