KUALA LUMPUR: The punishment of whipping or caning in the country is draconian and undoubtedly amounts to "torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment and punishment", says Tenaganita.
Its executive director Glorene Das said the "inhumane" spectacle, which was hidden from public view, had left behind broken bodies and souls.
"In a recent incident, the caning of a child ended with the person responsible being sentenced to 10 years in prison.
"But when a similar punishment by the state or government leads to death, who should be charged? Is it the individual who carried out the caning, or are we all, as a society, complicit in this cruel system?
"Whipping or caning in Malaysia is draconian and undoubtedly amounts to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment.
"We must ask ourselves why such brutality persists and why we continue to justify it under the guise of punishment," she said in a recent statement.
She was referring to a case of an inmate at the Pokok Sena Prison who died after contracting a bacterial infection in the blood.
The Prisons Department said the inmate had complained of feeling unwell last Friday, nine days after his rotan sentence was carried out on Sept 25.
The department said the rotan sentence on Sept 25 was meted out according to standard operating procedures (SOP). After a thorough examination, the prison medical officer also confirmed that the prisoner was healthy and fit.
However, the department also said it had started an internal probe to review whether the sentence was carried out according to the set SOP.