KUALA LUMPUR: A Royal Malaysian Navy officer denied in the Sessions Court here today that he sat on the late J. Soosaimanicckam's stomach and slapped him repeatedly during a cadet training session at KD Sultan Idris, Lumut.
Lieutenant Abdul Ariff Abdul Halim, 29, refuted these allegations while being cross-examined by lawyer Zaid Malek, representing S. Joseph, the father of the deceased, in a lawsuit against 11 defendants, including navy officers, the navy chief, the Malaysian Armed Forces Council, the Defence Minister and the Malaysian government.
Zaid Malek questioned Abdul Ariff about his witness statement from May 18, 2018, suggesting that he had indeed sat on the deceased and assaulted him.
Abdul Ariff denied these claims, asserting that he did not sit on or hit the deceased, nor did he shout or scold him.
Former navy cadet Anas Hakimi Mat previously testified that he saw a second lieutenant, identified as Abdul Ariff, sitting on Soosaimanicckam's stomach and repeatedly slapping him.
Earlier, Abdul Ariff, during his testimony, said that on May 18, 2018, he was the 2nd Lieutenant on duty responsible for overseeing the physical activities of Graduate Cadet Officers (PKG), when he noticed that Soosaimanicckam was not doing push-ups.
"I approached Soosaimanicckam, sat behind him in a half-squat position, patted his shoulders a few times and lifted him slightly to encourage him to continue the exercise," Abdul Ariff said during the Zoom court session today.
Abdul Ariff, the eighth defence witness, currently attending a Nautical Cartographer course at the Dalian Naval Academy in China, said he never spoke to the deceased and only knew Soosaimanicckam as a PKG trainee.
Meanwhile, medical officer Dr S. Saravanan told the court that the autopsy revealed signs of pulmonary oedema (fluid in the lungs) and that the deceased's lungs were heavier than normal.
"Pulmonary oedema can cause death rapidly if there is failure of crucial organs like the heart, liver, kidneys or lungs.
"In this case, I believe the lung failure caused by an infection led to the deceased's sudden death," said the final defence witness.
Dr Saravanan, Forensic Medicine Unit head at Seri Manjung Hospital, Perak, also refuted claims by the plaintiff's lawyer, Latheefa Koya that he lacked qualifications in forensic pathology
"I have extensive experience managing autopsy cases at the hospital," the witness said.
Judge Idah Ismail later set Nov 28 for the verdict on the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit filed on May 19, 2021, Soosaimanicckam's family alleges that the defendants were negligent by failing to provide emergency medical treatment when the victim collapsed and by not properly monitoring his health during the training session.
On July 29, the High Court ruled that Soosaimanicckam's death was a homicide, attributing it directly to the actions of navy officers responsible for cadet training, who had denied him medical treatment.