Abused boy's cause of death yet to be determined - police

MELAKA: The post-mortem done on the seven-year-old boy who was found drowned in a water tub at his house in Taman Krubong Jaya here on Friday, was completed tonight after 11 hours but the cause of death has yet to be determined.

Melaka Contingent Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Department chief ACP Mohd Sukri Kaman said forensic experts still require further information and have to run several lab tests to identify the actual cause of death.

He said several specimens from the victim’s organs, including lungs, heart and liver were taken for testing and it will take a certain period of time before anything can be determined.

He said there were injuries on the victim’s entire body, including the back, with old and new bruises in addition to new small wounds at the back of the victim’s head.

"Initial investigations found the injuries were inflicted by a blunt object but further investigations will be conducted to determine if the injuries were caused by the victim himself due to a fall or by other individuals.

“Therefore it is too early to confirm the cause of death of the victim due to abuse as was claimed previously,” he said when met with reporters outside Melaka Hospital here today.

Elaborating, he said the autopsy results found the victim passed away two hours before being found by the police in his house on the day of the incident, which contradicted claims by various parties that the body was found in a bloated condition.

He said the boy’s remains were expected to be handed over to his legal guardians tomorrow after certain mandatory procedures were done.

Mohd Sukri said the police had yet to receive any information about where the boy would be buried.

Last Friday, the seven-year-old boy died due to suspected abuse by his birth mother and stepfather in an incident in Taman Krubong Jaya here.

The boy was claimed to have drowned in a water tub in his house at around 4 pm, but initial investigations by police found physical injuries on the boy’s body.

The victim had previously been raised by his adopted family that lives in Rawang, Selangor since he was a baby before his birth mother returned to take him back October last year.

-- BERNAMA