Kugan’s family lodges police report against hospital

The family of A. Kugan lodged a police report Friday against Serdang Hospital and Prof Dr Abdul Karim Tajuddin, who conducted the first post-mortem on suspected car thief, for allegedly covering up the cause of his death.
The report was lodged at the district police headquarters here.
The 22-year-old Kugan was arrested on Jan 14 for suspected involvement in a car theft syndicate and was held at the USJ police station. He died during interrogation on Jan 20.
The first post-mortem, conducted at the Serdang Hospital mortuary, attributed the cause of death only to “fluid in the lungs.”
The second post-mortem report, conducted by pathologist Dr Prashant N. Samberkar from the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMCC), found that Kugan had died from being repeatedly beaten. The post-mortem was done at the request of the dead man’s family.
According to the family’s lawyer N. Surendran, the first report had missed several key observations and failed to ascertain a conclusive cause of death.
“However according to the second independent report, we were able to scientifically prove that the injuries on Kugan’s body were the cause of death,” he said.
The second post-mortem, which examined the entire body, found 42 other marks, burns and contusions. The pathologist had declared, based on the post-mortem, that Kugan was beaten so badly that his muscle tissues broke down, made their way into the bloodstream and to his kidneys, causing them to fail.
Surendran noted that there were too many discrepancies between the first and second post-mortem reports.
He also refuted claims made recently by Serdang Hospital director Dr Mohd Norzi Ghazali who said a mob of 50 people had barged into the mortuary and tampered with Kugan’s body.
“We have submitted evidence to the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan to prove that we were allowed in by the staff,” Surendran said.
Present with him were Kugan’s family, Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam and Teluk Intan MP M. Manogaran.