Crime & Courts

[UPDATED] High Court awards RM338,000 to family of man who died in custody

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has awarded RM338,000 to the family of Balamurugan Suppiah who died in custody at the Klang Utara district police headquarters in 2017.

Lawyers for Liberty, in a statement, said that Judge Su Tiang Joo granted the award during today's hearing for the assessment of damages.

The human rights and reform non-governmental organisation said the court had awarded RM100,000 in general damages, RM200,000 in aggravated damages, RM16,000 in special damages and RM22,000 in costs. 

"This is the outcome of a suit filed by the family of Balamurugan against the police and the government for negligence, assault and battery, false imprisonment and breach of statutory duty for his death on Feb 8, 2017 while in custody at the Klang Utara district police headquarters.

"The deceased was discovered with 20 visible injuries, and the pathologist concluded that the cause of death was 'coronary artery disease with multiple blunt force injuries'."

"On Aug 30, 2022, the Kuala Lumpur High Court found the police and the government liable for the death of the deceased and ordered for damages to be assessed separately," it said. 

It said the plaintiffs were represented by Zaid Malek and Nabila Khairuddin. 

The defendants were represented by Senior Federal Counsel Nur Ezdiani Roleb and Federal Counsel Afiq Nazrin Zaharinan.

In January 2018, investigations by the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) on the death of Balamurugan, 44, while in police custody revealed a serious breach of the police's standard operating procedures (SOP). 

EAIC chairman Datuk A. Aziz A. Rahim had said the public hearing involving 46 witnesses in Balamurugan's death found several serious non-compliance with the SOP, including the failure of the police to release the man after a remand application was rejected by the magistrate's court.

Balamurugan was investigated under Section 395/397 of the Penal Code for gang robbery and armed robbery.

He was found dead in the lock-up bleeding at his mouth and he had vomited blood when he was taken to the magistrate's court for remand hearing on Feb 7.

It was also reported that although the family members have asked for an urgent treatment for the victim at the hospital, Balamurugan was still taken to the detention.

Initial post-mortem by Dr Kartini Md Ariff at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang revealed that Balamurugan could have died from a heart attack.

However, the deceased's next-of-kin were unhappy with the results and requested a second post-mortem.

Forensic Medicine consultant Dr Siew Sheue Feng, who performed the second post-mortem on Balamurugan at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, was reported as saying that the 20 injuries on Balamurugan's abdomen, head and limbs were due to blunt force trauma and done with the intention to cause pain.

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