KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 10 deaths in police custody were recorded from Jan 1 to Sept 30 this year, revealed Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
He said an inquest has been ordered for one case, while investigations are ongoing for the remaining nine cases, as the police were still waiting for post-mortem reports.
"Based on the statistics, there is no racial discrimination on persons under police detention," he told Dewan Rakyat in a written reply.
Earlier Hamzah said five of those who died were Malays (4 men, 1 woman), 2 were Chinese and 2 were Indians.
He did not furnish the August house with the racial particulars of the tenth deceased.
Hamzah also said that there were 13 deaths in custody throughout 2020.
"Seven investigation papers were opened and their findings have been sent to the courts. The courts have decided that there would be no further action on three of the deaths while four deaths are undergoing inquests. The remaining six are being investigated."
He was replying to R S N Rayer (Jelutong-PH) who asked the minister for statistics on deaths in police custody and what was being done to address the situation.
On investigations into the death of Teoh Beng Hock, Hamzah said he could not comment further as the case was still being investigated by the police.
He reiterated what he said in Dewan Rakyat in Nov 2020, that the case was reopened under the instructions of the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) in Feb 2020 and that the police had called 13 witnesses.